Social Mores Quotes

“Let's tell the truth to people. When people ask, 'How are you?' have the nerve sometimes to answer truthfully. You must know, however, that people will start avoiding you because, they, too, have knees that pain them and heads that hurt and they don't want to know about yours. But think of it this way: If people avoid you, you will have more time to meditate and do fine research on a cure for whatever truly afflicts you.”
― Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter

“Sometimes evil didn't need an excuse. Sometimes evil just was.”
― Nenia Campbell, Cease and Desist

“So you've been gone a couple days,' Alison said. 'Hmm, what'd you miss...A celebrity did drugs. Politicians disagreed. A different celebrity wore a bikini that revealed a bodily imperfection. A team won a sporting event, but another team lost.' I smiled. 'You can't go disappearing on everybody like this, Hazel. You miss too much.”
― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

“The institution known as "school" isn't just a facility for doing classwork. It's essentially a microcosm of society, all of humanity put together in a little diorama. Bully exists in schools because war and conflict exist in the world, and school castes reflect our stratified, hierarchical society. Living in a democracy, the tyranny of the majority naturally applies at school, too. The majority -- that is to say, the people with the most friends -- are superior.”
― Wataru Watari, やはり俺の青春ラブコメはまちがっている。2

“So many of the men who came to the West were southerners—
men looking for work and a new life after the Civil War—that chivalrousness and strict codes of honor were soon thought of as
western traits. There were very few women in Wyoming during territorial days, so when they did arrive (some as mail-order
brides from places like Philadelphia) there was a standoffishness between the sexes and a formality that persists now. Ranchers still
tip their hats and say, "Howdy, ma'am" instead of shaking hands with me.
Even young cowboys are often evasive with women. It's not that they're Jekyll and Hyde creatures—gentle with animals and
rough on women—but rather, that they don't know how to bring their tenderness into the house and lack the vocabulary to express
the complexity of what they feel.”
― Gretel Ehrlich

“My fiancé immediately began to look uncomfortable, but did not voice this discomfort except by a soft gurgling sound in the throat . . . The gurgling escalated, but my mother politely switched on the dishwasher, and soon we heard mostly the sound of machinery rather than that of a person's feelings surfacing.”
― Alexandra Kleeman, Intimations: Darkly Humorous and Thought-Provoking Short Stories – Surreal Literary Fiction

“Just remember that in most things, right or wrong depends on where you’re standing at the moment. My father’s people would have thought having your life’s mate picked out for you by your parents to be … well, barbaric.” As Talon’s expression started to darken, Caleb added, “No offense intended, but I’m pointing out that things look the way they do because that is how you were taught as a child. And the rest of the world is vastly different from what a child can imagine.”
― Raymond E. Feist, Talon of the Silver Hawk