I am now quite cured of seeking pleasure in society, be it country or town. A sensible man ought to find sufficient company in himself.

Society is indeed a contract. It is a partnership in all science; a partnership in all art; a partnership in every virtue, and in all perfection. As the ends of such a partnership cannot be obtained in many generations, it becomes a partnership not only between those who are living, but between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born.

Society is composed of two great classes, those that have more dinners than appetite, and those who have more appetite than dinners.

You can tell all you need to about a society from how it treats animals and beaches.

Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion. It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs.

It is always possible to bind together a considerable number of people in love, so long as there are other people left over to receive the manifestations of their aggression.

To be social is to be forgiving.

Compare society to a boat. Her progress through the water will not depend upon the exertion of her crew, but upon the exertion devoted to propelling her. This will be lessened by any expenditure of force in fighting among themselves, or in pulling in different directions.

What can you say about a society that says God is dead and Elvis is alive?

We have two American flags always: one for the rich and one for the poor. When the rich fly it means that things are under control; when the poor fly it means danger, revolution, anarchy.

Societies need rules that make no sense for individuals. For example, it makes no difference whether a single car drives on the left or on the right. But it makes all the difference when there are many cars!

Any relations in a social order will endure, if there is infused into them some of that spirit of human sympathy which qualifies life for immortality.

What is called good society is usually nothing but a mosaic of polished caricatures.

Society is like a schoolmaster who estimates boys according to their conformity to a standard that is easiest for running a school.

The greatest difficulty with the world is not its ability to produce, but the unwillingness to share.

Our society is not a community, but merely a collection of isolated family units.

You can tell how high a society is by how much of its garbage is recycled.

Never speak disrespectfully of Society. Only people who can't get into it do that.

Societies that do not eat people are fascinated by those that do.