Our excessive tolerance with regard to suicide is due to the fact that, since the state of mind from which it springs is a general one, we cannot condemn it without condemning ourselves; we are too saturated with it not partly to excuse it.

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

A person is not merely a single subject distinguished from all the others. It is especially a being to which is attributed a relative autonomy in relation to the environment with which it is most immediately in contact.

Our excessive tolerance with regard to suicide is due to the fact that, since the state of mind from which it springs is a general one, we cannot condemn it without condemning ourselves; we are too saturated with it not partly to excuse it.

Science cannot describe individuals, but only types. If human societies cannot be classified, they must remain inaccessible to scientific description.

When mores are sufficient, laws are unnecessary. When mores are insufficient, laws are unenforceable.

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.