It Is Only By Historical

The Man Whose Whole Activity Is Diverted To Inner Meditation Becomes Insensible To All His Surroundings.

Society Is Not A Mere Sum Of Individuals. Rather, The System Formed By Their Association Represents A Specific Reality Which Has Its Own Characteristics... The Group Thinks, Feels, And Acts Quite Differently From The Way In Which Its Members Would Were They Isolated. If, Then, We Begin With The Individual, We Shall Be Able To Understand Nothing Of What Takes Place In The Group.

A Social Fact Is Every Way Of Acting, Fixed Or Not, Capable Of Exercising On The Individual An External Constraint; Or Again, Every Way Of Acting Which Is General Throughout A Given Society, While At The Same Time Existing In Its Own Right Independent Of Its Individual Manifestations.

The Totality Of Beliefs And Sentiments Common To The Average Members Of A Society Forms A Determinate System With A Life Of Its Own. It Can Be Termed The Collective Or Creative Consciousness.

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.