Famous Society Quotes

"Do not waste your time on Social Questions. What is the matter with the poor is Poverty; what is the matter with the rich is Uselessness"

George Bernard Shaw, Dramatist

"The danger of the past was that men became slaves. The danger of the future is that man may become robots"

Erich Fromm, Psychologist

"Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both"

C. Wright Mills, Sociologist

"A free society is one where it is safe to be unpopular"

Adlai E. Stevenson, Politician

"Most of the change we think we see in life is due to truths being in and out of favor"

Robert Frost, Poet

"A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both"

Dwight D. Eisenhower, President

"I am as frustrated with society as a pyromaniac in a petrified forest"

A. Whitney Brown, Comedian

"No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable"

Adam Smith, Economist

"How can a society that exists on instant mashed potatoes, packaged cake mixes, frozen dinners, and instant cameras teach patience to its young?"

Paul Sweeney, Politician

"Man is the animal that intends to shoot himself out into interplanetary space, after having given up on the problem of an efficient way to get himself five miles to work and back each day"

Bill Vaughan, Journalist

"You can find your way across this country using burger joints the way a navigator uses stars"

Charles Kuralt, Journalist

"Formerly, when religion was strong and science weak, men mistook magic for medicine; now, when science is strong and religion weak, men mistake medicine for magic"

Thomas Szasz, Psychologist

"A pure democracy is a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person"

James Madison, President

"The society which scorns excellence in plumbing as a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy: neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water"

John W. Gardner, Educator

"It is not a fragrant world"

Raymond Chandler, Writer

"It seems a long time since the morning mail could be called correspondence"

Jacques Barzun, Educator

"I think this society suffers so much from too much freedom, too many rights that allow people to be irresponsible"

Boyd Rice, Artist

"The key to organizing an alternative society is to organize people around what they can do, and more importantly, what they want to do"

Abbie Hoffman, Activist

"Our individual lives cannot, generally, be works of art unless the social order is also"

Charles Horton Cooley, Sociologist

"You can't make up anything anymore. The world itself is a satire. All you're doing is recording it"

Art Buchwald, Journalist

"In our society leaving baby with Daddy is just one step above leaving the kids to be raised by wolves or apes"

Al Roker, Entertainer

"Good-looking individuals are treated better than homely ones in virtually every social situation, from dating to trial by jury"

Martha Beck, Author

"Marriage cannot be severed from its cultural, religious and natural roots without weakening the good influence of society"

Jack Kingston, Politician

"One of the definitions of sanity is the ability to tell real from unreal. Soon we'll need a new definition"

Alvin Toffler, Author

"The function of the press in society is to inform, but its role in society is to make money"

A. J. Liebling, Journalist

"Our society is not a community, but merely a collection of isolated family units"

Valerie Solanas, Writer

"Life was a lot simpler when what we honored was father and mother rather than all major credit cards"

Robert Orben, Entertainer

"It is good for society to have this introspection"

Jacques Verges, Lawyer

"Women with money and women in power are two uncomfortable ideas in our society"

Candace Bushnell, Writer

"Cockroaches and socialites are the only things that can stay up all night and eat anything"

Herb Caen, Journalist

"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society"

Jiddu Krishnamurti, Philosopher

"The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat"

Lily Tomlin, Actress

"Normal social behavior requires that we be able to recognize identities in spite of change. Unless we can do so, there can be no human society as we know it"

Kenneth L. Pike, Sociologist

"The enemy of society is middle class and the enemy of life is middle age"

Orson Welles, Actor

"Civilization is unbearable, but it is less unbearable at the top"

Timothy Leary, Educator

"The human race's prospects of survival were considerably better when we were defenceless against tigers than they are today when we have become defenceless against ourselves"

Arnold J. Toynbee, Historian

"An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life"

Robert A. Heinlein, Writer