Society Quotes

Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.

Harry S. Truman

(When asked what he thought of Western civilization): 'I think it would be a good idea.

Mahatma Gandhi

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

Can a society in which thought and technique are scientific persist for a long period, as, for example, ancient Egypt persisted, or does it necessarily contain within itself forces which must bring either decay or explosion?

Bertrand Russell

At its most basic the democratic contract is a simple one: the right to vote comes with a responsibility to society, through tax payments and citizenship.

Lucy Powell

We're in a period where society seems very attracted to flash, and that seeps into people's musical taste.

K. D. Lang

Society attacks early, when the individual is helpless.

B. F. Skinner

A system that was originally designed to support the poorest in society is now trapping them in the very condition it was supposed to alleviate.

Iain Duncan Smith

This was sheer idleness to my fellow-townsmen, no doubt; but if the birds and flowers had tried me by their standard, I should not have been found wanting. A man must find his occasions in himself, it is true. The natural day is very calm, and will hardly reprove his indolence.

Henry David Thoreau

If people did not compliment one another there would be little society.

Luc De Clapiers

Common right is nought but the protection of all radiating over the right of each. This protection of all is termed Fraternity. The point of intersection of all these aggregated sovereignties is called Society. This intersection being a junction, this point is a knot. Hence comes what is called the social tie.

Victor Hugo

The surface of American society is covered with a layer of democratic paint, but from time to time one can see the old aristocratic colours breaking through.

Alexis de Tocqueville

All of us in society are supposed to believe that cruelty to animals is wrong and that it is a good thing to prevent needless suffering. So if that is true, how can meat be acceptable under any but the most extraordinary circumstances, such as perhaps roasting the bird who died flying into a window?

Ingrid Newkirk

Society needs to condemn a little more and understand a little less.

John Major

The more rational an institution is the less it suffers by making concessions to others.

George Santayana

When the citizens of a society can see and hear their leaders, then that society should be seen as one.

Plato

Whether lawyer, politician or executive, the American who knows what's good for his career seeks an institutional rather than an individual identity. He becomes the man from NBC or IBM. The institutional imprint furnishes him with pension, meaning, proofs of existence. A man without a company name is a man without a country.

Lewis H. Lapham

The practice of executing such offenders is a relic of the past and is inconsistent with evolving standards of decency in a civilized society.

John Paul Stevens

Human relationships always help us to carry on because they always presuppose further developments, a future - and also because we live as if our only task was precisely to have relationships with other people.

Albert Camus

It is in Saudi Arabia's best interest to allow women to fully participate in its society, and this includes the right to vote and run for office.

Barbara Boxer