Emile Durkheim

moral sufficient law unnecessary unenforceable

“When morals are sufficient, laws are unnecessary; when morals are insufficient, laws are unenforceable.”

― Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

condemn crime

“We do not condemn it because it is a crime, but it is a crime because we condemn it.”

― Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

advance goal infinity

“One does not advance when one walks toward no goal, or - which is the same thing - when his goal is infinity.”

― Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

barbarous rites myth human need individual social

“The most barbarous and the most fantastic rites and the strangest myths translate some human need, some aspect of life, either individual or social.”

― Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

perceive real consequences

“Things perceived as real become real in their consequences.”

― Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

liberty authority master reason duty

“Liberty is the daughter of authority properly understood. For to be free is not to do what one pleases; it is to be the master of oneself, it is to know how to act within reason and to do one's duty.”

― Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

religion system symbol society conscious

“Religion is in a word the system of symbols by means of which society becomes conscious of itself.”

― Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

moral society

"Man is a moral being, only because he lives in society. Let all social life disappear and morality will disappear with it."

― Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

sociel society forces mind

"Our whole social environment seems to us to be filled with forces which really exist only in our own minds."

― Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

man mirror soul

"When man discovered the mirror, he began to lose his soul."

― Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

religion idea society soul

"If religion has given birth to all that is essential in society, it is because the idea of society is the soul of religion."

― Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

religion system belief practice sacredmoral community church

"A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden-beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them."

― Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

social life likeness conscience division of labour

"Social life comes from a double source, the likeness of consciences and the division of social labour."

― Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

science describe individual type society classification classify

"Science cannot describe individuals, but only types. If human societies cannot be classified, they must remain inaccessible to scientific description."

― Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

comfort life renounced

"It is too great comfort which turns a man against himself. Life is most readily renounced at the time and among the classes where it is least harsh."

― Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)