Men would not live long in society, were they not the mutual dupes of each other. – François VI de la Rochefoucault (1613–1680)
I think we risk becoming the best informed society that has ever died of ignorance. – Reuben Blades
One of the misfortunes of our time is that in getting rid of false shame, we have killed off so much real shame as well. – Louis Kronenberger, Company Manners, 1954
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. – Krishnamurti
Our modern society is engaged in polishing and decorating the cage in which man is kept imprisoned. – Swami Nirmalananda, Enlightened Anarchism
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, Maxims for Revolutionists
Our democratic capitalist society has converted Eros into an employee of Mammon. – Octavio Paz
The first gold star a child gets in school for the mere performance of a needful task is its first lesson in graft. – Philip Wylie, Generation of Vipers, 1942
We do not have to visit a madhouse to find disordered minds; our planet is the mental institution of the universe. – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Perhaps in time the so-called Dark Ages will be thought of as including our own. – Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
The danger of the past was that men became slaves. The danger of the future is that man may become robots. – Erich Fromm
We create an environment where it is alright to hate, to steal, to cheat, and to lie if we dress it up with symbols of respectability, dignity and love. – Whitney Moore, Jr.
The choice so often these days is to believe something that seems insane or go insane. – Robert Brault, rbrault.blogspot.com
Widespread caffeine use explains a lot about the twentieth century. – Greg Egan, “Distress”
In these times you have to be an optimist to open your eyes when you awake in the morning. – Carl Sandburg, New York Post, 9 September 1960
Today the world changes so quickly that in growing up we take leave not just of youth but of the world we were young in. – Peter Medawar
Mammalia, n.pl. A family of vertebrate animals whose females in a state of nature suckle their young, but when civilized and enlightened put them out to nurse, or use the bottle. – Ambrose Bierce
Choice has always been a privilege of those who could afford to pay for it. – Ellen Frankfort
Those persons who are burning to display heroism may rest assured that the course of social evolution will offer them every opportunity. – Havelock Ellis
