Sociological method as we practice it rests wholly on the basic principle that social facts must be studied as things, that is, as realities external to the individual. There is no principle for which we have received more criticism; but none is more fundamental. Indubitably for sociology to be possible, it must above all have an object all its own. It must take cognizance of a reality which is not in the domain of other sciences... there can be no sociology unless societies exist, and that societies cannot exist if there are only individuals.
Emile DurkheimWhen morals are sufficient, law is unnecessary; when morals are insufficient, law is unenforceable.
Emile DurkheimEach new generation is reared by its predecessor; the latter must therefore improve in order to improve its successor. The movement is circular.
Emile DurkheimIrrespective of any external, regulatory force, our capacity for feeling is in itself an insatiable and bottomless abyss.
Emile DurkheimThere is no society known where a more or less developed criminality is not found under different forms. No people exists whose morality is not daily infringed upon. We must therefore call crime necessary and declare that it cannot be non-existent, that the fundamental conditions of social organization, as they are understood, logically imply it.
Emile Durkheim