It was possible, no doubt, to imagine a society in which wealth, in the sense of personal possessions and luxuries, should be evenly distributed, while power remained in the hands of a small privileged caste. But in practice such a society could not long remain stable. For if leisure and security were enjoyed by all alike, the great mass of human beings who are normally stupefied by poverty would become literate and would learn to think for themselves; and when once they had done this, they would sooner or later realise that the privileged minority had no function, and they would sweep it away. In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance. George Orwell, 1984
The mistake you make, don’t you see, is in thinking one can live in a corrupt society without being corrupt oneself. After all, what do you achieve by refusing to make money? You’re trying to behave as though one could stand right outside our economic system. But one can’t. One’s got to change the system, or one changes nothing. One can’t put things right in a hole-and-corner way, if you take my meaning. George Orwell, Keep the Aspidistra Flying
There were those who loved liberty, who cried out to live their own lives, to strive, to rise above, to achieve, and those bent on the mindless equality of stagnation brought about through the enforcement of an artificial, arbitrary, gray uniformity – those who wanted to transcend through their own effort, and those who wanted others to think for them and were willing to pay the ultimate price. Terry Goodkind, Faith of the Fallen
Insanity – a perfectly rational adjustment to an insane world. R D Laing
Right now, in every big city ghetto, tens of thousands of yesterday’s and today’s school dropouts are keeping body and soul together by some form of hustling in the same way I did. Malcolm X
To give aid to every poor man is far beyond the reach and power of every man. Care of the poor is incumbent on society as a whole. Barach Spinoza
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
Anyway, no drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we’re looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn’t test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power. P J O’Rourke
Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe. Frederick Douglass
I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them but to inform their discretion. Thomas Jefferson
Society is always taken by surprise at any new example of common sense. Ralph Waldo Emerson
He who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god. Aristotle
I’m 23 years old. I might just be my mother’s child, but in all reality, I’m everybody’s child. Nobody raised me; I was raised in this society. Tupac Shakur
A civilized society is one which tolerates eccentricity to the point of doubtful sanity. Robert Frost
I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. Nelson Mandela
I don’t know if high society is different in other cities, but in Hollywood, important people can’t stand to be invited someplace that isn’t full of other important people. They don’t mind a few unfamous people being present because they make good listeners. Marilyn Monroe
Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first a patron, the last a punisher. Thomas Paine, Common Sense
Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best stage, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one. ibid.
Society is produced by our wants, and government by wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher. Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil. ibid.
The instant formal government is abolished, society begins to act. A general association takes place, and common interest produces common security. Thomas Paine
Princes and governments are far more dangerous than other elements within society. Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince
We are trying to construct a more inclusive society. We are going to make a country in which no one is left out. Franklin D Roosevelt
Civilized society is perpetually menaced with disintegration through this primary hostility of men towards one another. Sigmund Freud
I feel like sometimes that I was not meant for this society. Mike Tyson
Society is inside of man and man is inside society, and you cannot even create a truthfully drawn psychological entity on the stage until you understand his social relations and their power to make him what he is and to prevent him from being what he is not. The fish is in the water and the water is in the fish. Arthur Miller, The Shadows of the Gods
The majority is never right. Never, I tell you! That’s one of these lies in society that no free and intelligent man can help rebelling against. Who are the people that make up the biggest proportion of the population – the intelligent ones or the fools? Henrik Ibsen, An Enemy of the People
I am now quite cured of seeking pleasure in society, be it country or town. A sensible man ought to find sufficient company in himself. Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights
Society is now one polish’d horde,
Form’d of two mighty tribes, the Bores and Bored. Lord Byron, Don Juan
We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions. Ronald Reagan
That which is good for the society is not necessarily good for the individual. That which is good for the individual is good for the society. Richard Diaz
When principles are so absurd and so destructive of human society, it may safely be averred, that the more sincere and the more disinterested they are, they only become the more ridiculous and the more odious. David Hume
Forming grammatically correct sentences is for the normal individual the prerequisite for any submission to social laws. No one is supposed to be ignorant of grammaticality … The unity of language is fundamentally political. Gilles Deleuze, Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia
Taking into account the public’s regrettable lack of taste, it is incumbent upon you not to fit in. Janeane Garofalo, Feel This Book: An Essential Guide to Self-Empowerment, Spiritual Supremacy, and Sexual Satisfaction
Our culture promotes individuality, while the Amish are deeply entrenched in community. To us, if someone stands out, it’s no big deal because diversity is respected and expected. To the Amish, there’s no room for deviation from the norm. It’s important to fit in, because that similarity of identity is what defines the society. If you don’t fit in, the consequences are psychologically tragic, you stand alone when all you’ve ever known is being part of the group. Jodi Picoult, Plain Truth
Ideally, what should be said to every child, repeatedly, throughout his or her school life is something like this: ‘You are in the process of being indoctrinated. We have not yet evolved a system of education that is not a system of indoctrination. We are sorry, but it is the best we can do. What you are being taught here is an amalgam of current prejudice and the choices of this particular culture. The slightest look at history will show how impermanent these must be. You are being taught by people who have been able to accommodate themselves to a regime of thought laid down by their predecessors. It is a self-perpetuating system. Those of you who are more robust and individual than others will be encouraged to leave and find ways of educating yourself – educating your own judgements. Those that stay must remember, always, and all the time, that they are being moulded and patterned to fit into the narrow and particular needs of this particular society.’ Doris Lessing, The Golden Notebook