Whatever sociology may be, it is the result of constantly asking the question, what is the meaning of this?

In the world of the celebrity, the hierarchy of publicity has replaced the hierarchy of descent and even of great wealth.

Every revolution has its counterrevolution - that is a sign the revolution is for real.

The immediate cause of World War III is the military preparation of it.

Much work is merely a way to make money; much leisure is merely a way to spend it.

Each day men sell little pieces if themselves in order to try to buy then back each night and weekend.

It is the political task of the social scientist — as of any liberal educator — continually to translate personal troubles into public issues, and public issues into the terms of their human meaning for a variety of individuals. It is his task to display in his work — and, as an educator, in his life as well — this kind of sociological imagination. And it is his purpose to cultivate such habits of mind among the men and women who are publicly exposed to him. To secure these ends is to secure reason and individuality, and to make these the predominant values of a democratic society.