The functions of the family in a highly differentiated society are not to be interpreted as functions directly on behalf of the society, but on behalf of personality.

Sociology should... be thought of as a science of action-of the ultimate common value element in its relations to the other elements of action.

Theory not only formulates what we know but also tells us what we want to know, that is, the questions to which an answer is needed.

The hypothesis may be put forward, to be tested by the s subsequent investigation, that this development has been in large part a matter of the reciprocal interaction of new factual insights and knowledge on the one hand with changes in the theoretical system on the other.

Empirical interest will be in the facts so far as they are relevant to the solution of these problems.

The part an actor played on stage was once written on a separate roll of paper.

It is probably safe to say that all the changes of factual knowledge which have led to the relativity theory, resulting in a very great theoretical development, are completely trivial from any point of view except their relevance to the structure of a theoretical system.