A society that refuses to strive for superfluities is likely to end up lacking in necessities.

A society that refuses to strive for superfluities is likely to end up lacking in necessities.

Nonconformists travel as a rule in bunches. You rarely find a nonconformist who goes it alone. And woe to him read more

Nonconformists travel as a rule in bunches. You rarely find a nonconformist who goes it alone. And woe to him inside a nonconformist clique who does not conform with nonconformity.

Every change in conditions will make necessary some change in the use of resources, in the direction and kind of read more

Every change in conditions will make necessary some change in the use of resources, in the direction and kind of human activities, in habits and practices. And each change in the actions of those affected in the first instance will require further adjustments that will gradually extend through the whole of society. Every change thus in a sense creates a "problem" for society, even though no single individual perceives it as such; it is gradually "solved" by the establishment of a new overall adjustment.

Human civilization is not something achieved against nature; it is rather the outcome of the working of the innate qualities read more

Human civilization is not something achieved against nature; it is rather the outcome of the working of the innate qualities of man.

The criterion of truth is that it works even if nobody is prepared to acknowledge it.

The criterion of truth is that it works even if nobody is prepared to acknowledge it.

The technique of a mass movement aims to infect people with a malady and then offer the movement as a read more

The technique of a mass movement aims to infect people with a malady and then offer the movement as a cure.

When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous read more

When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.

A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes read more

A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes his mind off his own meaningless affairs by minding other people's business.This minding of other people's business expresses itself in gossip, snooping and meddling, and also in feverish interest in communal, national and racial affairs. In running away from ourselves we either fall on our neighbor's shoulder or fly at his throat.

The integrative tendencies of the individual operate through the mechanisms of empathy, sympathy, projection, introjection, identification, worship- all of which read more

The integrative tendencies of the individual operate through the mechanisms of empathy, sympathy, projection, introjection, identification, worship- all of which make him feel that he is a part of some larger entity which transcends the boundaries of the individual self. This psychological urge to belong, to participate, to commune is as primary and real as its opposite. The all-important question is the nature of that higher entity of which the individual feels himself a part.