Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau Lust Quotes

What I had to fear while waiting to possess this beloved person was naturally, the anticipation. (5.1.31)

Lust is scarier than the act of sex for Rousseau. He's a complicated guy.

I felt as if I had committed incest and two or three times, as I clasped her rapturously in my arms I wet her bosom with tears. (5.1.37)

Rousseau's lust gets confused with his close bond with Mme de Warens (Mama). Does he know how to identify the feeling of love?

So I was burning with love for no object, and it is perhaps love of this sort that is the most exhausting. (5.1.69)

Again and again, Rousseau associates lust with bad emotions—exhaustion, fear, and anxiety. What's up with that?