Each new generation is reared by its predecessor; the latter must therefore improve in order to improve its successor. The movement is circular.
Emile DurkheimScience cannot describe individuals, but only types. If human societies cannot be classified, they must remain inaccessible to scientific description.
Emile DurkheimThe man whose whole activity is diverted to inner meditation becomes insensible to all his surroundings.
Emile DurkheimOne cannot long remain so absorbed in contemplation of emptiness without being increasingly attracted to it. In vain one bestows on it the name of infinity; this does not change its nature. When one feels such pleasure in non-existence, one's inclination can be completely satisfied only by completely ceasing to exist.
Emile DurkheimSociety 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.
Emile Durkheim