Quotes from Randall Collins

It is not literally true that a picture is worth a thousand words. Most people will not see what is in a picture, or will see it through the most readily available visual cliches. It takes training and an analytical vocabulary to talk about what is in a picture, and to know what to look for. A picture is worth a thousand words only for those who already have internalized an adequate vocabulary.

The outsider sees details as meaningless, or doesn't see the details at all. That is what makes most of us outsiders.

The reality for those in the successful inner circle is simply "the mundanity of excellence": a smoothly applied routine of using finely tuned resources with the confidence that one knows how to make them pay off. To those in the outer tiers, even those in the second competitive rank, there seems to be some mysterious quality that the successful possess, and this sense of difference generates a barrier of anxiety which makes it all the more impassable.

language is no deus ex machina to account for philosophy.

Jobs sardonically said that the charity world was a good place for Bill Gates, since he didn't have anything really creative to do with his time.)

Where there exists competition for membership in egalitarian rituals, some individuals dominate attention because of their relatively higher CC and EE, while others are less attended to because they lack these resources.

the most eminent intellectuals are those whose papers end up being cited the most; their ideas are "parents" to the greatest number of "offspring." Their ideas make it possible for other people to make their own statements.

The most successful exploiter is the one who makes others feel that he or she has their best interests at heart.