Quotes About Society

It is precisely the essential feature of egoism that it does not apprehend the full value of the isolated self. The egoist sees himself only with regard to the others, as a member of society who wishes to possess and acquire more than the others. Self-directedness or other-directedness have no essential bearing on the specific quality of love or hatred. These acts are different in themselves, quite independently of their direction

Man, you see, is not a person, but an ideal, a spook.

Who is this person that you call "All"?—It is "society"!—But is it corporeal, then?—We are its body!—You? Why, you are not a body yourselves;—you, sir, are corporeal to be sure, you too, and you, but you all together are only bodies, not a body. Accordingly the united society may indeed have bodies at its service, but no one body of its own. Like the "nation" of the politicians, it will turn out to be nothing but a "spirit," its body only semblance.

Devlet, eme?in köleli?i üzerine oturur. Emek, özgür oldu?u anda devlet çöker.

So the people--humanity or the family--have up to now, as it seems, played history: no egoistic interest was supposed to arise in these societies, but only universal, national, or popular interests, class interests, family interests, and "universal human interests".

The State is the most necessary means for the complete development of mankind." It assuredly has been so as long as we wanted to develop mankind; but, if we want to develop ourselves, it can be to us only a means of hindrance.

The person is repulsive to it because of being "egoistic," because of not being that abstraction, Man.

For bourgeois classes as such have seldom before and never since displayed heroism. It was "the last of our heroisms", as Carlyle, not without reason, has said. 

Today's capitalist economic order is a monstrous cosmos, into which the individual is born and which in practice is for him, at least as an individual, simply a given, an immutable shell in which he is obliged to live. It forces on the individual, to the extent that he is caught up in the relationships of the "market," the norms of its economic activity.

Material goods have gained an increasing and finally inexorable power over the lives of men as at no previous period in history.

It is certain that there can be no work in political economy on any other than an altruistic basis... If our work is to retain any meaning it can only be informed by this: concern for the future, for those who will come after us.

Capitalism existed in China, India, Babylon, in the classic world, and in the Middle Ages.

Parfümierte, wortreiche, handlungsarme Ideenromane, die deshalb von den Deutschen geliebt werden, weil dieser Mann [Thomas Mann] genauso ein Heuchler war wie sie selbst.

Hunger also changes the world—when eating can't be a habit, than neither can seeing.

When you raise girls, you're raising children for strangers.

Without law men are beasts.

The cult of beauty without social responsibility is a threat to civilization as we know it.

When the failure-type personality looks for a scapegoat or excuse for his failure, he often blames society, "the system," life, "the breaks." He resents the success and happiness of others because it is proof to him that life is shortchanging him and he is being treated unfairly.

Before her, with sharp blue eyes and perfectly coiffed blond hair, was Josephine Marie Elizabeth Cavendish, Her Grace, the Duchess of Durham, widow of the fifth duke, and aunt to the Cavendish siblings. One did not call her Josie. Amelia had asked.

But then it hasn't really been a focus of our government to make us an educated people.

I think people in general have neglected to learn about history.

Zar smo svi zli? — Svi. Neko manje, neko više. Ali svi.

I nijedno zlo ne može postati dobro, zato što ga prihvata ve?ina.

Ljutita i za?u?ena, gomila ima svoj jezik, druk?iji od jezika kojim se služi svaki od ovih ljudi, li?i na zujanje p?ela, ili na režanje, gube se rije?i a ostaje skupni zvuk, gube se pojedina?na raspoloženja a ostaju zajedni?ka, opasna.