“The ethical regime [of the Jews] was quite definitely Ptolemaic, revolving around the small group of Jews, not the larger Gentile group—and, accordingly, they learned to remain unimpressed by Gentile temporal power. Being unimpressed did not mean being unafraid—material power might beat or starve one to death; it did mean refusing to surrender moral hegemony to the majority merely because it had power.”

— David Riesman

“A Philosophy for ‘Minority’ Living,” p. 56
Individualism Reconsidered (1954)

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David Riesman 8

American Sociologist 1909–2002

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