Quotes About Society

Capital punishment turns the state into a murderer. But imprisonment turns the state into a gay dungeon-master.

There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps... then turn around and see somebody white and feel relieved.

As much as some people hate to admit it, and as angry as it makes many black people, the undeniable fact is that the greatest enemies to black progress today are within the black community itself, not in American society at large.

As black people, we must recognize that our real battle is with ourselves, not with society. It is not racism but the civil rights establishment, with its victim-centered mentality and irrational fury at white America that mentally cripples blacks, teaching them to find the means of success outside of themselves in government programs, and urging them to find the origin of their greatest problems in white society.

We call our country home of the brave and land of the free, but it's not. We give a false portrayal of freedom. We're not free - if we were, we'd allow people their freedom.

Love is by far bigger than the government can ever be.

In a free society, how can you commit a crime against yourself?

Let's face it, I don't have the body of a 14-year-old anymore. I think the more we try not to have that unrealistic ideal, the happier we'll be.

As a girl, I was always told I was nasty or dirty if I was sexual in any way. Americans are such prudes.

The capitalists don't want anyone living off their economic grid.

401(k)s were part of a larger cultural drift in America away from shared responsibilities toward a more precarious individualism.

Sameer and LaVonne were not naive. They know that, in the eyes of the law, they are homeless. But who can live under the weight of that word? The term "homeless" has metastasized beyond its literal definition, becoming a terrible threat. It whispers: Exiles. The Fallen. The Other. Those Who Have Nothing Left. "Our society's untouchables," LaVonne suggested on her blog.

During one long reporting trip, I had to get a prescription refilled. My doctor called a drugstore. Later he told me that, when the pharmacist demanded my home address, he didn't know how to answer and blurted out, "She's living in a van!" The pharmacist let it slide, but the episode made me think. In America, if you don't have an address, you're not a real person.

Today the United States has the most unequal society of all developed nations. America's level of inequality is comparable to that of Russia, China, Argentina, and the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Today the United States has the most unequal society of all developed nations.

These indignities underscore a larger question: When do impossible choices start to tear people—a society—apart?

It rankled deeply that people who had never seen a battle should have such a strong aversion to the war. He'd actually seen people cross to the other side of the street to avoid passing him, and a man had spit at the sight of a crippled soldier begging outside the city gates.

I'm an underdog person, so I align myself with those who seem to be not considered valuable in polite society.

In every interview I have ever read or seen or taken part in, the final question in our future-oriented society is always, What next?

A fact of modern life is that it takes women longer to get ready than men.

It's not fair that women look in the mirror and feel disgust because of what society has made them believe.

For women especially, virginity has become the easy answer- the morality quick fix. You can be vapid, stupid, and unethical, but so long as you've never had sex, you're a "good" (i.e. "moral) girl and therefore worthy of praise.

idea at play here is that of "morality." When young women are taught about morality, there's not often talk of compassion, kindness, courage, or integrity. There is, however, a lot of talk about hymens

No matter the content, the message is clear: we are here for their enjoyment and little else. We have to walk through the rest of our day knowing that our discomfort gave someone a hard-on.