Quotes about society (5797 quotes, page 57)

“The bully got bullied...and that was happening in all levels of society: governments were treating people badly, authorities were not doing what they were supposed to do and people saw in that example, a way of getting even.”

Rubén Blades (1948) Panamanian musician, singer, composer, actor, activist, and politician

On the song "Pedro Navaja" in "Rubén Blades" http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/latinmusicusa/legends/ruben-blades/ in PBS

Way , People

“I do not underestimate the obstacles which the Congress will face in enacting such legislation. No one will be satisfied. Everyone will have his own approach, his own bill, his own reduction. A high order of restraint and determination will be required if the possible is not to wait on the perfect. But a nation capable of marshaling these qualities in any dramatic threat to its security is surely capable, as a great free society, of meeting a slower and more complex threat to our economic vitality. This Nation can afford to reduce taxes, we can afford a temporary deficit, but we cannot afford to do nothing. For on the strength of our free economy rests the hope of all free nations. We shall not fail that hope, for free men and free nations must prosper and they must prevail.”

John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America

Source: 1962, Address and Question and Answer Period at the Economic Club of New York

Perfection , Waiting , Hope , Men

“Finally, our greatest asset in this struggle is the American people--their willingness to pay the price for these programs--to understand and accept a long struggle--to share their resources with other less fortunate people-to meet the tax levels and close the tax loopholes I have requested--to exercise self-restraint instead of pushing up wages or prices, or over-producing certain crops, or spreading military secrets, or urging unessential expenditures or improper monopolies or harmful work stoppages--to serve in the Peace Corps or the Armed Services or the Federal Civil Service or the Congress--to strive for excellence in their schools, in their cities and in their physical fitness and that of their children--to take part in Civil Defense-to pay higher postal rates, and higher payroll taxes and higher teachers' salaries, in order to strengthen our society--to show friendship to students and visitors from other lands who visit us and go back in many cases to be the future leaders, with an image of America--and I want that image, and I know you do, to be affirmative and positive-and, finally, to practice democracy at home, in all States, with all races, to respect each other and to protect the Constitutional rights of all citizens.”

John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America

Source: 1961, Speech to Special Joint Session of Congress

School , Democracy , Peace , Home

“I believe...all the enduring institutions which human societies have attained have been reached, not of the set design and forethought of some group of statesmen, but by that unbidden and unconscious convergence of many thoughts and wills in successive generations to which, as it obeys no single guiding hand, we may give the name of "drifting."”

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (1830–1903) British politician

Source: Minute (20 April 1875), quoted in E. D. Steele, 'Salisbury at the India Office', in Lord Blake and Hugh Cecil (eds.), Salisbury: The Man and his Policies (1987), p. 141

Success

“There...is the necessity for freedom of speech and the arts. We have to scrutinize all the advances of society to judge whether they are cruel or frustrate cruelty, and for that purpose we must hear the evidence of all persons affected by their operation and of all persons qualified by experience or learning or speculative gifts to form an interesting opinion on what those operations might be. It is therefore necessary that all classes of men should be given the fullest opportunity to express themselves without constraint, not only out of admiration for an abstraction , but as a practical measure toward human survival. It is also necessary that the artist, of whatsoever kind, should be free to anatomize the spirit, so that we can comprehend the battlefield that is this life, and which are the troops of light and which of darkness, and what light may be, and darkness.”

Rebecca West (1892–1983) British feminist and author

Source: "I Believe", in I Believe : The Personal Philosophies of Certain Eminent Men and Women Of Our Time edited by Clifton Fadiman. New York : Simon and Schuster, 1939.

Freedom , Light , Personality , Learning

“Those who are willing to work, those who are willing to toil, those who are willing to sacrifice, they shall be the peaceful army that He shall lead to the conquest of the great ideal Society, which they shall build under His direction and make practicable under His inspiration; and they, perhaps more than any other proof, are the sign of the new departure, are the welcome and the heralds of the coming Teacher.”

Annie Besant (1847–1933) British socialist, theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator

Source: Initiation, The Perfecting of Man 1923, p. 148

Teachers , Making love , Peace , Departure

“...the major objective of Brazilian society is the strengthening of peace. We believe that the ideological conflict between West and East cannot and should not be solved militarily, because if in a nuclear war we saved our lives, we would not be able to save, whether we won or were won, our reason for living.”

João Goulart (1918–1976) 24th President of Brazil

Source: João Goulart: Uma Biografia. Jorge Ferreira. 2011. Page 276. ISBN 978-85-200-1056-3

War , Peace

“I could not in good conscience vote for a party that thinks protecting the most vulnerable people in society, those who are yet to be born, issues around euthanasia, other pro-life issues and indeed generally people who have a faith and want to practice it, I couldn't vote for a party that thinks that is somehow incompatible with the modern world.”

Rob Flello (1966) British politician (born 1966)

Source: 'This is blatant discrimination': Christian politician deselected by Lib Dems says it was because of abortion and gay marriage views https://premierchristian.news/en/news/article/this-is-blatant-discrimination-christian-politician-deselected-by-lib-dems-says-it-was-because-of-abortion-and-gay-marriage-views (13 November 2019)

Faith , People , Thinking , World

“Growthmania is the fatal disease of civilisation - it must be replaced by campaigns that make equity and well-being society’s goals - not consuming more junk.”

Paul R. Ehrlich (1932) American scientist and environmentalist

Source: Top scientists warn of 'ghastly future of mass extinction' and climate disruption https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/13/top-scientists-warn-of-ghastly-future-of-mass-extinction-and-climate-disruption-aoe. The Guardian (2021)

Making love , Disease

“Western civilization, unfortunately, does not link knowledge and morality but rather, it connects knowledge and power and makes them equivalent. Today with an information "superhighway" now looming on the horizon, we are told that a lack of access to information will doom people to a life of meaninglessness — and poverty. As we look around and observe modern industrial society, however, there is no question that information, in and of itself, is useless and that as more data is generated, ethical and moral decisions are taking on a fantasy dimension in which a "lack of evidence to indict" is the moral equivalent of the good deed.”

Vine Deloria Jr. (1933–2005) American writer

Foreword to Words of Power: Voices from Indian America (1994), also quoted in "Vine Deloria, Jr." at Indigenous Peoples Literature (2015) by Glen Welker http://www.indigenouspeople.net/vine.htm

Question , People , Knowledge , Decision

“Norwegian women must take responsibility for the fact that Muslim men find their manner of dress provocative. And since these men believe women are responsible for rape,the women must adapt to the multicultural society around them.”

Unni Wikan (1944) Norwegian anthropologist

25 April 2007 http://islamineurope.blogspot.com/2007/04/norway-professor-unni-wikan-on-rape.html attributes it to an un-archived article from now-dead site FrontPageMag http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=20646 (excluded from archival). It was later repeated 5 July 2017 on page 20 of "Europe Arise" by Michael Walsh https://books.google.ca/books?id=2EIqDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT20
Misattributed

Women , Men

“Our country is suffering from the lack of food. We don't have rice for the military. Our country is in a state of anarchy because of the dysfunctional food rationing system. The administration department is responsible for this mess, as well as the Party officials. The Party's Central Committee members have failed their duty in generating a revolutionary spirit, diminishing the Party's effectiveness. We must solve the food problem according to socialist principles, and we must not rely on individuals. If we let the people solve the problem on their own, only merchants and markets will prosper. Then, selfishness will rule our society and destroy our system of true equality.”

Kim Jong-il (1941–2011) General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea

Reported speech at Kim Il Sung University in December 1996, as quoted in Exit Emperor Kim Jong-il (2012) by John H. Cha and K. J. Sohn. Domestic collections of Kim's works do not confirm the speech or the wording, but an April 1996 speech to the Central Committee began with similar observations, and a "state of anarchy" arising from privatization in former socialist countries was a theme in earlier works.
1990s

Selfishness , Country , Food , Suffering

“You run an NGO, wear jeans ripped at the knees, move about in society, children are with you, what values you will teach?”

Mahesh Sharma (1959) Indian politician

Criticizing a random woman he met on a plane, as quoted in " Why India is talking about ripped jeans and knees https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-56453929" by Geeta Pandey, BBC News (22 March 2021)

Children

“The universal hypocrisy has so entered into the flesh and blood of all classes of our modern society, it has reached such a pitch that nothing in that way can rouse indignation. Hypocrisy in the Greek means "acting," and acting—playing a part—is always possible.”

Leo Tolstoy The Kingdom of God Is Within You

Variant Translation: Hypocrisy with good reason means the same as acting, and anybody can pretend — act a part.
Source: The Kingdom of God is Within You (1894), Chapter XII, Conclusion—Repent Ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand

Universe , Way , Parting

“To give support should be commonplace in our society, not to be asked for.”

Isaac Mashman (2000) businessman, speaker

Support

“After a long period when politicians weren't even sitting in the same building together, there actually was the churches working together, who in many ways provided the fabric that held society together.”

Donal McKeown (1950) Roman Catholic bishop

Donal McKeown says DUP views seen as 'nakedly sectarian' https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-23112107 (30 June 2013)

Way

“Freedom of speech is a principal pillar of a free government; when this support is taken away, the constitution of a free society is dissolved, and tyranny is erected on its ruins. Republics and limited monarchies derive their strength and vigor from a popular examination into the action of the magistrates.”

Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) American author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, …

"On Freedom of Speech and the Press", Pennsylvania Gazette (17 November 1737) http://books.google.de/books?id=HptPAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA431&dq=pillar.
1720s

Support , Freedom

“Do I still need to tell you that I am not guided by selfish motives? No gentlemen, although Belgium is small, it is happy and content with its fate. I have no ambition other than to serve it. In this century, our civilized society imparts unprecedented values to barbarian communities in other parts of the world.
Leopold II, King of the Belgians in a speech at the Brussels Geographic Conference on September 12, 1876. Quoted from the book "Zaïre, Ketens van Koper (translated: Zaire, Chains of Copper)" Chapter 2: From Leopold II to Bwana Kitoko, page 16. Leuven, Kritak Fonds, 1978. ISBN 9063030185”

Leopold II of Belgium (1835–1909) King of the Belgians

Selfishness , Fate , Happiness , Communication

“The function of punishment is to do good, to improve the universe, to add to the sum total of happiness. And punishment which does not do this is not justified. It is a crime in itself. The penal acts of society should be judged just as other acts of conduct are judged—by their utilities.”

J. Howard Moore (1862–1916)

Source: The New Ethics (1907), The Perils of Over-population, p. 152

Universe , Happiness

“Mary teaches us in prayer, in the Rosary, that’s one thing; but in those cultural traditions as well – in the traditions of the Garifuna people, in the traditions of the Maya, the Kriol, the Mestizo, are all round our country – ways that bring us together, across generations, and help us to squeeze that poison out of our society. So newly-elected Bishop Lawrence Nicasio: lead us; guide us; show us how to use the ruguma, just as Jesus said: Remain in my love, that my love might be in you and your love might be complete; that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete. This is my command; love one another, as I have loved you. So show us how to integrate the daily prayer of the Rosary, as Mary instructed us at Fatima; teach us how to live the Garifuna greeting: darangila, luma, esieni – peace and love”

Christopher Glancy (1960) Second bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Samoa-Pago Pago.

Roman Catholic Church Installs New Bishop Larry Nicasio https://edition.channel5belize.com/archives/146238 (May 15, 2017)

Peace , Country , People , Help

“It is the responsibility of all to stand up against any systemic discrimination by the government in a democratic society; this is a principle which Ukrainians certainly understand intimately.”

Stephen Chmilar (1945)

Bishop urges Catholic groups to renege after they signed Trudeau’s pro-abortion pledge https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/bishop-urges-catholic-groups-to-renege-after-they-signed-trudeaus-pro-abort (May 3, 2018)

Understanding

“We live in a tough neighborhood and must continue to be a beacon of change and hope in the region for the good of our youth and societies.”

Mohammad Al Gergawi (1963) Minister of Cabinet Affairs of the United Arab Emirates and the Chairman of the Executive Office in Dubai.

Statement during a speech by Mohammad Al Gergawi delivered at The White House on the occasion of hosting the third Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Dubai as quoted in White House | Mohammad Al Gergawi tells the secret behind UAE's success story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahOZgtob-DQ in Wam (November 2012).
2012
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahOZgtob-DQ
Source: https://2009-2017.state.gov/e/eb/cba/entrepreneurship/ges/2012gep/index.htm

Youth , Hope , Change

“In a libertarian society, big business wouldn’t be so big, since they couldn’t destroy their competition through government regulation. Without government control of the airways, more radio and television stations would be available and could not be shut down on political whim.”

Mary Ruwart (1949) American scientist and libertarian activist

Source: Short Answers to the Tough Questions: How to Answer the Questions Libertarians Are Often Asked, (2012), p. 230

Business

“… we have begun trying to reorder our societies not in line with facts we know from science but based on political falsehoods pushed by activists in the social sciences.”

Douglas Murray (1979) British political commentator and far-right activist

Source: The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity (2019)

Science

“A society that says we are defined exclusively by the bar and the nightclub, by self-indulgence and our sense of entitlement, cannot be said to have deep roots or much likelihood of survival. But a society which holds that our culture consists of the cathedral, the playhouse and the playing field, the shopping mall and Shakespeare, has a chance.”

Douglas Murray book The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam

The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam (2017)

Sense , Self-confidence , Chance

“We have to channel greed so that it becomes useful to our society.”

David Cay Johnston (1948) Investigative journalist and author

The Tyrant Next Time (November 7, 2019)

“We live in a society where... presidents and candidates for president of both parties are always saying "God Bless America" and "This is the greatest ever" and they're not talking about the real facts of what's going on.”

David Cay Johnston (1948) Investigative journalist and author

David Cay Johnston; How The One Percent Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (Jun 23, 2009)

God

“There is a never-ending struggle against the need for the state to be strong enough to be functional and to have a civilized society, and at the same time, its desire to crush those who stand in the way.”

David Cay Johnston (1948) Investigative journalist and author

David Cay Johnston; How The One Percent Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (Jun 23, 2009)

Way , Strong , Time

“The impulse to increase profits can blind men to risk, especially when those at risk are strangers. Society imposes rules on corporate behavior to protect public safety in the face of baser impulses. These rules require enforcement...”

David Cay Johnston (1948) Investigative journalist and author

Free Lunch (2007)

Behavior , Men

“I see myself as representing the conservative wing of the postindustrial society.”

Newt Gingrich (1943) Professor, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

1980s

“I do not believe that the real life of this nation is to be found either in great luxury hotels and the petty gossip of so-called fashionable suburbs, or in the officialdom of the organised masses. It is to be found in the homes of people who are nameless and unadvertised, and who, whatever their individual religious conviction or dogma, see in their children their greatest contribution to the immortality of their race. The home is the foundation of sanity and sobriety; it is the indispensable condition of continuity; its health determines the health of society as a whole.”

Robert Menzies (1894–1978) Australian politician, 12th Prime Minister of Australia

Radio talk, 22 May, 1942
Wilderness Years (1941-1949)

Home , Fashion , Life , Children

“The whole underside of our society has always been violence and still is. Churches, laws--everybody seems to think that man is a noble savage. But he's only an animal. A meat-eating, talking animal. Recognize it. He also has grace and love and beauty. But don't say to me we're not violent.”

Sam Peckinpah (1925–1984) American film director and screenwriter

Playboy, August 1972

Animals , Thinking , Law , Making love

“Spiritual evolution is the progressive advance of mankind toward a state of things in which the light of ethical perfection shall be reflected from the face of human society; that is, in which all men shall live and move and have their being in mutually promoting the highest life of each and all. It means that the object of social reformation shall not be a mere change in the conditions under which men live, but a change in human nature itself. It means that we shall look forward consciously to the breaking forth of new powers in ourselves, to the release, through our own efforts, of capacities dimly latent in us.”

Felix Adler (1851–1933) German American professor of political and social ethics, rationalist, and lecturer

Some Characteristics of the American Ethical Movement (1925)

Perfection , Men , Light , Effort

“A further reason why industrial society cannot be reformed in favor of freedom is that modern technology is a unified system in which all parts are dependent on one another. You can’t get rid of the "bad" parts of technology and retain only the "good" parts.”

Theodore Kaczynski book Industrial Society and Its Future

The ‘Bad’ Parts of Technology Cannot Be Separated From the ‘Good’ Parts, paragraph 121
Industrial Society and Its Future (1995)

Bad luck , Freedom , Parting , Dependency

“People do not consciously and rationally choose the form of their society. Societies develop through processes of social evolution that are not under rational human control.”

Theodore Kaczynski book Industrial Society and Its Future

"Some Principles of History", paragraph 106
Industrial Society and Its Future (1995)

People

“Its always my conviction that young filmmakers do not actively need old filmmakers help, because the society in which they are living in, their surroundings and their knowledge is completely different. I mean there’s a whole set of different rules which they know better than we do, but if we use our experience to tell them what to do I think it hinders more than it helps. Not unless the old director who’s out to help is also a very good teacher that is saying to the student what he needs to know instead of just telling the student his experience. And being a teacher, I think I’ve been one myself and I know that I’m not good enough, because to be a great teacher is more difficult than to be a great filmmaker.”

Ann Hui (1947) Hong Kong film director

77. Mostra del Cinema - Ann Hui masterclass 28 Oct 2020, at 3 Min 12 Sec https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NNfVayr694
Masterclass with Ann Hui at the 77th Venice International Film Festival

Knowledge , Thinking , Help , Teachers

“It also permitted me to understand the vicious character of money, the inhuman character of the power of money that renders man practically useless for society and for himself. And I think that the experience that I have lived is an experience that comforts me in our struggle to make the life of man more human, more beautiful and rich. I think that we can win this fight, but not alone. We can win it together, in unity.”

Basile Mvé Engone (1941) Catholic bishop

Reflections of bishops after our week of study on Social Credit https://www.michaeljournal.org/articles/pilgrims-of-st-michael/item/reflections-of-bishops-after-our-week-of-study-on-social-credit-3 (1 October 2011)

Money , Thinking , Understanding , Fight

“In society, we do horrible things to one another because we don't see the person it affects. We don't see their face. We don't see them as people. Which was the whole reason the hood was built in the first place, to keep the victims of apartheid out of sight and out of mind. Because if white people ever saw black people as human, they would see that slavery is unconscionable. We live in a world where we don't see the ramifications of what we do to others, because we don't live with them. It would be a whole lot harder for an investment banker to rip off people with subprime mortgages if he actually had to live with the people he was ripping off. If we could see one another's pain and empathize with one another, it would never be worth it to us to commit the crimes in the first place.”

Trevor Noah book Born a Crime

page 222
Born a Crime

World , Personality , Pain , People

“To realise that the socialist society is not the norm, evolved by material conditions, but the exception, imposed on immoral society by human will and social conscience, is not to emasculate our socialism, but to set ourselves a challenge.”

Richard Crossman (1907–1974) British Member of Parliament

‘Introduction’, New Fabian Essays (1952), p. 15

“Sometimes in our activist and production-oriented American society and culture we succumb to pragmatism looking at the Christian life and our sharing in the apostolic mission of the Church as a matter being able to “do” things for Christ, the Church or others. In fact, the Christian life is a gift and a call to truth and love given to us by God. It is first a matter of "being," of simply existing as a person created by God and redeemed by him in Christ. We live out this truth and love in specific ways according to our age, talents, and unique vocation. At no point are the sacraments about what we have done or promise to do for God. They are God's free gift of grace to us. At the same time, these gifts of love entail an obligation to bear witness to God's love in word and deed by our collaboration in freedom with the grace given.”

Álvaro Corrada del Río (1942) Puerto Rican Catholic bishop

Pastoral Reflection on the Sacrament of Confirmation http://www.americancatholicpress.org/Bishop_Corrada_Pastoral_Reflecton%20_on_Confirmation.html (October 7, 2005)

God , Time , Freedom , Personality

“In any society built on institutionalized racism, race-mixing doesn't merely challenge the system as unjust, it reveals the system as unsustainable and incoherent. Race-mixing proves that races can mix - and in a lot of cases, want to mix. Because a mixed person embodies that rebuke to the logic of the system, race-mixing becomes a crime worse than treason.”

Trevor Noah book Born a Crime

page 21
Born a Crime

Personality

“If we want to give back to future generations what we have taken for granted, we have to understand the planet as a natural resource bank account. In other words, we need to start investing in depleted capital and live off the interest instead. There are plenty of individuals from both countries who are conscious of these things and trying to do better. But, we need to do much better as a global society. All countries need to communicate the importance of this life support system and protect this web of life. We must be able to live with the planet and not on it.”

Fabien Cousteau (1967) French filmmaker and oceanographer

Deep Sea Rendez-Vous with Fabien Cousteau https://beautyandwellbeing.com/well-being/deep-sea-rendez-vous-with-celine-fabien-cousteau/ (September 30, 2020)

Understanding , Country , Communication , Support

“Today, music heralds… the establishment of a society of repetition in which nothing will happen anymore.”

Jacques Attali (1943) French economist

Source: Quotations of the Day: September 2003, https://www.bartleby.com/quotations/092003.html

Music

“The finest design for society will not be one worked up by specialists but a design created by the people themselves to fit their needs.”

William Coperthwaite (1930–2013) American yurt builder

A Handmade Life: In Search of Simplicity

People

“The large industrial enterprise is... the representative institution of an industrial society. It determines the individual's view of his society.”

Peter F. Drucker (1909–2005) American business consultant

Under section header: The Enterprise as Society's Mirror
1930s- 1950s, The New Society (1950)

“God is not interested in the freedom of black men or brown men or yellow men. God is interested in the freedom of the whole human race, the creation of a society where every man will respect the dignity and worth of personality. So when we sing We Shall Overcome, we are singing a hymn of faith, a hymn of optimism, a hymn of faith in the future.
I can still sing that song because I have faith in the future. I believe that we, as Negroes, are going to gain our freedom in America because the goal of America is freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with the destiny of America.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement

1960s, Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution (1965)

Personality , Optimism , Men , God

“We must never substitute a doctrine of Black supremacy for white supremacy. For the doctrine of Black supremacy is as dangerous as white supremacy. God is not interested merely in the freedom of black men and brown men and yellow men but God is interested in the freedom of the whole human race, the creation of a society where all men will live together as brothers”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement

"Social Justice and the Emerging New Age" address at the Herman W. Read Fieldhouse, Western Michigan University (18 December 1963)
1960s

God , Freedom , Men

“Bee Movie was definitely my favorite movie that I've starred in, because I've always wanted to be a bee. They seem to have the most organized society on earth, and they make honey! Which is a pretty amazing product.”

Jerry Seinfeld (1954) American comedian and actor

Reddit "Ask Me Anything" #3 (2016)

Star , Bee

“The economy as an instituted process of interaction serving the satisfaction of material wants forms a vital part of every human community. Without an economy in this sense, no society could exist for any length of time.”

Karl Polanyi (1886–1964) economist, philosopher and historian

Source: The Livelihood of Man (1977), Ch. 2 : The Two Meanings of Economic

Communication , Time , Parting , Sense

“A man is of no use to this world, of no use to society or the neighborhood in which he lives, who has no other object in view than making a fortune for himself and his family, little caring what becomes of those around him.”

Samuel Fielden (1847–1922) American anarchist

Statement to the Court (1886)

Family , World

“A man is of no use to this world, of no use to society or the neighborhood in which he lives, who has no other object in view than making a fortune for himself and his family, little caring what becomes of those around him.”

Samuel Fielden (1847–1922) American anarchist

Statement to the Court (1886)

Family , World

“A stable middle class is the backbone of a free society and entrepreneurs are the true job creators that power our world.”

Jay Samit (1961) American businessman

Future Proofing You (2021)

World

“Government is, and always has been, the greatest criminal threat to the peaceful members of society.”

Richard Ebeling (1950) American economist

Jacob G. Hornberger, editor, The Tyranny of Gun Control, “Introduction,” Fairfax, VA, Future of Freedom Foundation (FFF), (1997) p. xii

Peace

“The reason we feel alienated is because the society is infantile, trivial, and stupid. So the cost of sanity in this society is a certain level of alienation. I grapple with this because I’m a parent. And I think anybody who has children, you come to this realization, you know—what’ll it be? Alienated, cynical intellectual? Or slack-jawed, half-wit consumer of the horseshit being handed down from on high? There is not much choice in there, you see. And we all want our children to be well adjusted; unfortunately, there’s nothing to be well adjusted to!”

Terence McKenna (1946–2000) American ethnobotanist

Thinking , Parent , Children , Stupidity

“I consider Xi Jinping the most dangerous enemy of open societies in the world.”

George Soros (1930) Hungarian-American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist

Tweet 16 August 2021 https://twitter.com/georgesoros/status/1427244353714544644

World

“Nature is entirely synergetic and because your problems of representing a society ignorant of such fundamentals are greatly increased you need to pay great attention to learning how to comprehend synergy and thereafter how to educate all of humanity in the shortest time how to comprehend and usefully cope with omni-synergetic universe”

Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983) American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor and futurist

1960s, Presentation to U.S. Congressional Sub-Committee on World Game (1969)

Learning , Universe , Education , Time

“Man is born to be happy and free, and everywhere he is enslaved and unhappy! Society exists for the purpose of conserving his rights and perfecting his being, and everywhere society degrades and oppresses him! The time has come to remind him of his true destiny.”

Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794) French revolutionary lawyer and politician

Quoting Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Misc Quotes

Happiness , Perfection , Time

“We got married: society’s solution to loneliness, lust and laundry.”

Luke Rhinehart book The Dice Man

The Dice Man, 1971, p. 99.

Loneliness

“The general will rules in society as the private will governs each separate individual.”

Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794) French revolutionary lawyer and politician

Misc Quotes

“I find all of our world society is operating exclusively in parts. We know this because the word synergy is unknown popularly and it is the only word that means “behavior of wholes unpredicted by behavior of their parts.””

Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983) American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor and futurist

This proves that society does not even think that it has a need for such a word. This discloses that society does not think that there are behaviors of wholes unpredicted by the parts. It thinks statistics and probability are all that we need but if “probability” and “statistics” were of any power at all we could not have a stock market or gambling for we would know exactly how things are coming out and no one would bet against the probability.
1960s, Presentation to U.S. Congressional Sub-Committee on World Game (1969)

World , Behavior , Parting

“It's rare to find a woman filmmaker in Muslim society, and even rarer when she is an outspoken talent unafraid of controversy.”

Yasmin Ahmad (1958–2009) Malaysian film director

By Roger Garcia (former director of the Hong Kong International Film Festival)
Reuters Article by Jalil Hamid - Malaysian filmmaker struggles with hardline Islam https://www.reuters.com/article/us-malaysia-filmmaker-idUSKLR21119520070629 - 29 June 2007 - Archive https://web.archive.org/web/20210821072553/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-malaysia-filmmaker-idUSKLR21119520070629
Yasmin Ahmad retrospective at the Honolulu Academy of Arts hosted by CSEAS (Center for Southeast Asian Studies, University of Hawai`i) - Interview with Malyasian Filmmaker Yasmin Ahmad (with Wimal Dissanayake) in Section: Description http://hdl.handle.net/10125/7235 - 2007 Spring - Archive https://web.archive.org/web/20210821074323/https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/7235
About Yasmin Ahmad

“What’s not fair is that our society rewards selfishness. That’s not fair.”

Max Barry book Jennifer Government

Source: Jennifer Government (2003), Chapter 5, “Wal-Mart” (p. 18)

Selfishness

“In as much as people are fascinated by stories, we writers have a duty to reflect issues that need attention in society.”

Suraj Sani (1996) Nigerian writer, Spoken word artist

Interview (12-12-2020), Vanguard Nigeria https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/12/how-my-writings-would-contribute-to-the-fight-against-terrorism-suraj-sani/

People

“What a state of society is this in which free-thinker is a term of abuse, and in which doubt is regarded as sin?”

William Winwood Reade (1838–1875) British historian

Source: The Martyrdom of Man (1872), Chapter IV, "Intellect", p. 541

“We as a society have become very independent, and we have become proficient in so many things, I think some of us feel we don't have that reliance on God as much as it was once felt. But the fact is we need (God) more than ever.”

Anthony F. Tonnos (1935) Canadian Catholic bishop

Bishop Tonnos retires after almost three decades of service https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilton-region/2010/11/08/bishop-tonnos-retires-after-almost-three-decades-of-service.html (November 8, 2010)

God , Feeling , Thinking

“Living enlightenment is actualizing the limitless potential and experiencing the ultimate as every moment of life unfolds afresh. Living in this divine space is living the best life and doing the greatest service to society.”

Nithyananda (1978) Indian guru

Living Enlightenment

Life

“Democracy in itself does not define or guarantee a free society. History has told many stories of democratic societies that have degenerated into corruption, plunder, and tyranny.”

Richard Ebeling (1950) American economist

“Beware Democracy without Liberty” https://fee.org/articles/beware-democracy-without-liberty/, Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), (April 1, 2005)

Democracy , History

“We reject a political philosophy asserting that economic reforms can be launched over and against society, above people's heads - one that pushes democratic change aside.”

Tadeusz Mazowiecki (1927–2013) Polish politician and prime minister

"Inaugural address of Premier Tadeusz Mazowiecki" https://polishfreedom.pl/en/document/statement-inaugural-address-of-the-prime-minister-tadeusz-mazowiecki-delivered-at-the-seym-session-on-12th-september-1989 (12 September 1989)

People , Change

“I wish that all the ills of society - conformism, laziness, indolence, betrayal, violence, lust, rape - and especially the evils of politics will be represented in the form of an absolute depravity.”

Osamu Tezuka MW

From the Afterword to April 1978 MW , vol. 3, translation by Francesco Nicodemus, Hazard Editions, Milan, 2005, p. 193. ISBN 887502037X

Betrayal , Evil

“The principle of nowness is very important to any effort to establish an enlightened society.”

Pema Chödron (1936) American philosopher

How to Meditate: A Practical Guide to Making Friends with Your Mind (2008)

Effort

“Society creates the victims that it afterwards vainly attempts to get rid of.”

Emma Goldman book Anarchism and Other Essays

Anarchism and Other Essays (1910), The Traffic in Women

“The methods of coping with crime have no doubt undergone several changes, but mainly in a theoretic sense. In practice, society has retained the primitive motive in dealing with the offender; that is, revenge.”

Emma Goldman book Anarchism and Other Essays

Anarchism and Other Essays (1910), Prisons: A Social Crime and Failure

Revenge , Motivation , Sense , Change

“As women, we need to continue to rise in our capacity as leaders in civil society, private sector, public sector and other spheres-to look at how we can help each other thrive in environments where we grow, where we are supported and protected.”

Neo Masisi (1962) first lady of Botswana

Source: Botswana: First Lady Neo Jane Masisi Speech Delivered At the Virtual Launch of the W Summit Diamond Impact Week 2020 https://allafrica.com/stories/202012040594.html (4 December 2020)

Support , Help , Women

“Education and health care are not only commercial services, but also public and universal ones. So on top of commerce, what can we do to play our role? What can we do in terms of pension and health in an ageing society?”

Ma Huateng (1971) Chinese internet entrepreneur

"Tencent founder Pony Ma emphasises company’s investment in social value amid increasing antitrust and gaming scrutiny" in South China Morning Post (23 April 2021) https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3130836/pony-ma-emphasises-tencents-investment-social-value-amid-increasing

Health , Universe , Age , Education

“The past is therefore a permanent dimension of the human consciousness, an inevitable component of the institutions, values and other patterns of human society. The problem for historians is to analyse the nature of this 'sense of the past' in society and to trace its changes and transformations.”

Eric Hobsbawm (1917–2012) British academic historian and Marxist historiographer

Chap. 2 : The Sense of the Past
On History (1997)

Change , Past , Nature , Problem

“We are a society of apostolic life, so there’s going to be a common life … there must be fraternal life. If there’s no fraternal life, priests become extremely susceptible to the wiles and snares of the devil.”

Antony Sumich (1964) New Zealand rugby union footballer and coach

Traditionalist order sees chance to come to NZ https://nzcatholic.org.nz/2016/05/12/traditionalist-order-sees-chance-come-nz/ (May 12, 2016)

Life

“Technology is a capability. To be good is a choice. Over the past 23 years, Tencent has managed to come this far because society and our country have provided support that allowed Tencent to continuously grow.”

Ma Huateng (1971) Chinese internet entrepreneur

"Tencent founder Pony Ma emphasises company’s investment in social value amid increasing antitrust and gaming scrutiny" in South China Morning Post (23 April 2021) https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3130836/pony-ma-emphasises-tencents-investment-social-value-amid-increasing

Country , Support , Past

“I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square. His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the Church has done so often in human history."”

Francis George (1937–2015) Catholic cardinal

Replying to a question about the secularization of Western culture in a meeting with a group of priests on circa May 2010.
Source: The Myth and the Reality of 'I'll Die in My Bed', Tim Drake, National Catholic Register, October 24, 2012, November 21, 2014 http://www.ncregister.com/blog/tim-drake/the-myth-and-the-reality-of-ill-die-in-my-bed,

History , Help

“A society that acquiesces in the presence in its midst of a vast permanent army of unemployed is a society that has ceased to believe in itself.”

G. D. H. Cole (1889–1959) British historian, economist, writer

The Next Ten Years in Economic and Social Policy (1929), p. 46

“Being rich is associated with being intelligent in our society. Thus, all the billionaires and millionaires make sense every time they talk.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

Time , Intelligence , Sense

“A society has many pasts from which it chooses those that go into the creation of its history. The choice is made by those in authority—the authority being of various kinds—although occasionally the voice of others may be heard.”

Romila Thapar (1931) Indian historian

The Past as Present : Forging Contemporary Identities Through History

History , Past

“We are no longer securing just computers - we are securing the society.”

Mikko Hyppönen (1969) Finnish computer security expert

Source: A talk at Slush 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV9gnLKw8P0 November 2015

“[T]he centre of interest... lies in natural science and technology because... the sciences of society were first embodied in tradition and ritual and only took shape under the influence and on the model of the natural sciences.”

John Desmond Bernal book Science in History

Preface
Science in History (1954)

Science , Nature

“It would be as one-sided to assess the effects of science on society as of society on science.”

John Desmond Bernal book Science in History

Preface
Science in History (1954)

Science

“We feel society would best be served, not so much by a pill for intellect or sexuality, but by one for compassion. A medicine for altruism. Perhaps we have one.”

William Leonard Pickard (1945) American writer and researcher

Source: The Rose of Paracelsus (2015), p. 197

Feeling

“It is very hard to promote and create a society with generations of people that all they have known is violence.”

Charles Daniel Balvo (1951) American archbishop

Nuncio to South Sudan Proposes a Path to Peace https://zenit.org/2014/02/20/nuncio-to-south-sudan-proposes-a-path-to-peace/ (February 20, 2014)

People

“Society lives by faith, develops by reason.”

Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) Swiss philosopher and poet

7 May 1870
Journal Intime (1882), Journal entries

Faith

“My new responsibility is higher, it requires renewed vigour, commitment and strength, the prayers of my brethren are needed. I need your prayers to succeed, I need your prayers to take catholic church and the society to the promised land.”

Matthew Ishaya Audu (1959) Nigerian catholic priest

Cleric urges Nigerians to pray for national unity, development https://newsdiaryonline.com/cleric-urges-nigerians-to-pray-for-national-unity-development/ (May 10, 2021)

“Our children are not individuals whore rights and tastes are casually respected from infancy, as they are in some primitive societies . . . . They are fundamentally extension of our own egos and give a special opportunity for the display of authority.”

Ruth Benedict Patterns of Culture

Patterns of Culture, 7

Whore , Children

“The challenges being faced by an estimated one billion persons with disabilities cannot be taken lightly. It requires all stakeholders to do more to build a more inclusive society.”

Rodney Williams (1947) Governor-General of Antigua and Barbuda (born 1947)

Rodney Williams (2019) cited in: " Caribbean disability conference: ‘we are an opportunity, not a burden’ https://thecommonwealth.org/media/news/caribbean-disability-conference-we-are-opportunity-not-burden" in The Commonwealth, 6 December 2019.

Personality

“The citizens are the members of the civil society: linked to this society by certain duties and subject to its authority, they participate with equality has its advantages.”

Emer de Vattel book The Law of Nations

Alternate: The citizens are the members of the civil society, bound to this society by certain duties, and subject to its authority; they equally participate in its advantages.
The natives or natural-born citizens are those born in the country of parents who are citizens.
..
if he be born there of a foreigner, it will be only the place of his birth, and not his country
page 176 https://books.google.ca/books?id=NukJAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA176&lpg=PA176 of English translation published in 1883,
while the bottom-left marks it as page 176, it is listed as page 101 on the top-left. The section of the book is titled "OF OUR NATIVE COUNTRY, ETC." and it is part of chapter XIX called "OF OUR NATIVE COUNTRY AND SEVERAL THINGS THAT RELATE TO IT"
quoted in 1856 case https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/60/393/#476 in supreme court
quoted in 1942 by Mr. Stewart seen in page 1683 https://books.google.ca/books?id=qiI9TLONLVMC&pg=PA1683 of part 2 of volume 8 of "Proceedings and Debates of the 77th Congress Second Session"
The Law of Nations (1758)
Original: (fr) Les citoyens sont les membres de la societe civile : lies a cette societe par certains devoirs et soumis a son autorite, ils participent avec egalite a ses avantages.

“In egalitarian societies, genes matter more.”

Matt Ridley book Genome

Source: Genome (1999), Chapter 6 “Intelligence” (p. 86)

“Prison is a society within a society. It’s a reflection of life in the streets. The jargon may be different, but we think and feel the same as on the streets and we recreate it in prison.”

Miguel Piñero (1946–1988) Puerto Rican writer

As quoted in the book Captive Audience: Prison and Captivity in Contemporary Theatre https://books.google.com/books?id=oEKSAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA41&lpg=PA41&dq about Piñero’s views regarding prison culture

Thinking , Life , Feeling

“If we are free to be our varietal selves; if there be no obstructions to the exchange of ideas and goods; if we have the liberty to move; society and”

Leonard E. Read (1898–1983) American academic

Idea

“Freedom is the biggest myth ever created. It's a destructive, unachievable goal that has caused a great deal of pain. Very few people can handle freedom. A society is healthy and productive when it's under control.”

John Twelve Hawks book The Traveler

Source: Fourth Realm Trilogy (2005-2009), The Traveler (2005), Ch. 30

Pain , Freedom , People

“I also regret that we haven't done more about tolerance in Croatian society and inclusiveness.”

Andrej Plenković (1970) Prime Minister of Croatia

"Plenkovic: Modern Croatia has No Reason for Hate Speech Outbursts" in Total Croatia News https://www.total-croatia-news.com/politics/44275-plenkovic-modern-croatia-has-no-reason-for-hate-speech-outbursts (14 June 2020)

“Every religion has basic principles that is designed to uplift people's mind and teaches good morals and ethics, the tools which lead to a harmonious society where people do not encroach, but help one another.”

Yingluck Shinawatra (1967) Thai businesswoman and politician

"Speech On The Occasion Of The End Of Ramadan H. 1432" https://www.thaiembassy.sg/announcements/speech-by-prime-minister-yingluck-shinawatra-on-the-occasion-of-the-end-of-ramadan-h-1 (2011)

People , Religion , Help

“Disabled people have to be protected. A society which will not protect the weak has no respect for human dignity.”

Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi (1958) Japanese bishop

Source: Japan knife attack shows disabled persons 'have to be protected' https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/34269/japan-knife-attack-shows-disabled-persons-have-to-be-protected (July 29, 2016)

People

“Extremist ideas are something that will kill us all in the Balkans, something that will ruin our still very fragile democratic societies.”

Aleksandar Vučić (1970) President of Serbia

Source: "Aleksandar Vučić: Let’s not go back to the ’90s" in POLITICO https://www.politico.eu/article/aleksandar-vucic-interview-serbia-balkans-migration-kosovo-bosnia/ (14 April 2016)

Idea

“We should never take democracy for granted. Neither should we worship it. It must be nurtured and strengthened on a daily basis. It is our way of living, our state of mind. A democratic society is sustainable because it aims at the highest development of every one of its members.”

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj (1963) Mongolian politician

Source: "Statement at the General Debate Of The 71th Session Of The United Nations General Assembly On “the Sustainable Development Goals: A Universal Push To Transform Our World”" https://www.un.int/mongolia/statements_speeches/statement-his-excellency-mr-tsakhia-elbegdorj-president-mongolia-general-debate (20 September 2016)

Democracy , Way

Quotes about society page 57

Quotes about society
page 57