Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quote Share via Email Print this Page [241-260] of 291 Society quotesSociety QuotesSociety Previous 20 quotes Next 20 quotes I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found a way to serve.~ Albert Schweitzer The things most people want to know about are usually none of their business.~ George Bernard Shaw Imprisonment, as it exists today, is a worse crime than any of those committed by its victims.~ George Bernard Shaw A fashion is nothing but an induced epidemic.~ George Bernard Shaw Nobody can live in society without conventions. The reason why sensible people are as conventional as they can bear to be is that conventionality saves so much time and thought and trouble and social friction of one sort or another that it leaves them much more leisure time for freedom than unconventionality does.~ George Bernard Shaw When two people are under the influence of the most violent, most insane, most delusive, and most transient of passions, they are required to swear that they will remain in that excited, abnormal, and exhausting condition continuously until death do them part.~ George Bernard Shaw A free society can exist only when public spirit is balanced by an equal inclination of men to mind their own business.~ Edward A. Shils Nay, all laws must fall, human societies that subsist by them be dissolved, and all innocent persons be exposed to the violence of the most wicked, if men might not justly defend themselves against injustice by their own natural right, when the ways prescribed by publick authority cannot be taken.~ Algernon Sidney Society attacks early when the individual is helpless.~ B. F. Skinner Whether or not legislation is truly moral is often a question of who has the power to define morality.~ Jerome H. Skolnick In a free society, individuals have the right to do right or wrong, as long as they don’t threaten or infringe upon the rights or property of others.~ Mark Skousen Taxation is the price we pay for failing to build a civilized society. The higher the tax level, the greater the failure.~ Mark Skousen The man of system…is apt to be very wise in his own conceit; and is often so enamoured with the supposed beauty of his own ideal plan of government, that he cannot suffer the smallest deviation from any part of it… He seems to imagine that he can arrange the different members of a great society with as much ease as the hand arranges the different pieces upon a chess-board. He does not consider that in the great chess-board of human society, every single piece has a principle of motion of its own, altogether different from that which the legislature might choose to impress upon it.~ Adam Smith The natural effort of every individual to better his own condition, when suffered to exert itself with freedom and security is so powerful a principle that it is alone, and without any assistance, not only capable of carrying on the society to wealth and prosperity, but of surmounting a hundred impertinent obstructions with which the folly of human laws too often incumbers its operations; though the effect of these obstructions is always more or less either to encroach upon its freedom, or to diminish its security. ~ Adam Smith In our country, the lie has become not just a moral category but a pillar of the State.~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn The strength or weakness of a society depends more on the level of its spiritual life than on its level of industrialization. Neither a market economy nor even general abundance constitutes the crowning achievement of human life. If a nation’s spiritual energies have been exhausted, it will not be saved from collapse by the most perfect government structure or by any industrial development. A tree with a rotten core cannot stand.~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Although I have made a fortune in the financial markets, I now fear that the untrammeled intensification of laissez-faire capitalism and the spread of market values into all areas of life is endangering our open and democratic society. The main enemy of the open society, I believe, is no longer the communist but the capitalist threat.~ George Soros While birds can fly, only humans can argue. Argument is the affirmation of our being. It is the principal instrument of human intercourse. Without argument the species would perish. As a subtle suggestion, it is the means by which we aid another. As a warning, it steers us from danger. As exposition, it teaches. As an expression of creativity, it is the gift of ourselves. As a protest, it struggles for justice. As a reasoned dialogue, it resolves disputes. As an assertion of self, it engenders respect. As an entreaty of love, it expresses our devotion As a plea, it generates mercy. As charismatic oration it moves multitudes and changes history. We must argue -- to help, to warn, to lead, to love, to create, to learn, to enjoy justice, to be.~ Gerry Spence Government is like fire. If it is kept within bounds and under the control of the people, it contributes to the welfare of all. But if it gets out of place, if it gets too big and out of control, it destroys the happiness and even the lives of the people.~ Harold E. Stassen My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.~ Adlai E. Stevenson II Previous 20 quotes Next 20 quotes Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print