A society whose members are united by the fact that they think in the same way in regard to the sacred world and its relations with the profane world, and by the fact that they translate these common ideas into common practices, is what is called a Church. In all history, we do not find a single religion without a Church.

The first and most basic rule is to consider social facts as things.

There is no sociology worthy of the name which does not possess a historical character.

Men have been obliged to make for themselves a notion of what religion is, long before the science of religions started its methodical comparisons.

Man is a moral being, only because he lives in society. Let all social life disappear and morality will disappear with it.

Socialism is not a science, a sociology in miniature: it is a cry of pain.

Even one well-made observation will be enough in many cases, just as one well-constructed experiment often suffices for the establishment of a law.