Social Philosophy Quotes

“Individual cultures and ideologies have their appropriate uses but none of them erase or replace the universal experiences, like love and weeping and laughter, common to all human beings.”
― Aberjhani, Splendid Literarium: A Treasury of Stories, Aphorisms, Poems, and Essays

“Discourse and critical thinking are essential tools when it comes to securing progress in a democratic society. But in the end, unity and engaged participation are what make it happen.”
― Aberjhani, Splendid Literarium: A Treasury of Stories, Aphorisms, Poems, and Essays

“Every way of life produces its own environment and in turn is influenced by that environment.”
― Hugh Nibley

“Yes, the European spirit is built on strange foundations. The whole of European thought developed in places that were increasingly arid and increasingly inaccessible. Consequently, it was natural that the chances of encountering man became less and less frequent.
A permanent dialogue with itself, an increasingly obnoxious narcissism inevitably paved the way for a virtual delirium where intellectual thought turns into agony since the reality of man as a living, working, self-made being is replaced by words, an assemblage of words and the tensions generated by their meanings. There were Europeans, however, who urged the European workers to smash this narcissism and break with this denial of reality.
Generally speaking, the European workers did not respond to the call. The fact was that the workers believed they too were part of the prodigious adventure of the European Spirit.”
― Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth

“Why do all these social philosophies support the revolt against civilization? And what is the secret of their popularity? Why do they attract and seduce so many intellectuals? I am inclined to think that the reason is that they give expression to a deepfelt dissatisfaction with a world which does not, and cannot, live up to our moral ideals and to our dreams of perfection. The tendency of historicism (and of related views) to support the revolt against civilization may be due to the fact that historicism itself is, largely, a reaction against the strain of our civilization and its demand for personal responsibility.”
― Karl Popper, The Open Society and Its Enemies - Volume One: The Spell of Plato

“Excessive individuality plagues the foundations of every institution there is in the world, and the only way to stop it is through a deeper understanding of others and ourselves. It is the willingness to accept that there is value in helping others and having empathy for the plight of people.”
― Billy Poon, The Why Of Life: Why We Live Without Purpose and How to Find Meaning in a Pointless Life

“We are who others are. We cannot exist in this world devoid of other people’s grace. There will always be a time when we have to face others, whether we like it or not. From the minute we are born, we have to face the embrace of our mother and father. To us, they are other people; they are not you, even though parts of them live through you. From the time you are born, you have unequivocally entered a social contract with your mother and father – that you will live in this world.”
― Billy Poon, The Why Of Life: Why We Live Without Purpose and How to Find Meaning in a Pointless Life

“We are why we are. In life, nothing is guaranteed, but even nothing itself is not guaranteed. Purpose, as it stands now, is the only force that shapes what our 'nothing' constitutes.”
― Billy Poon, The Why Of Life: Why We Live Without Purpose and How to Find Meaning in a Pointless Life

“The individual is born good. However, our society is not. This seemingly paradoxical phenomenon is due to the fact that societal norms reward those who are 'selficated', the habitual or normalized mindset to practice selfishness. In other words, selfication is the process by which an individual is habituated into a selfish mode of existence.”
― Billy Poon, The Selficated Society: Why We Are Depressed in the Modern Age and How You Can Break Free from Suffering to Live a Life Worthwhile

“We are selficated to the extent that alternatives prove irrational and normalcy is the temptation to believe there is no other way.”
― Billy Poon, The Selficated Society: Why We Are Depressed in the Modern Age and How You Can Break Free from Suffering to Live a Life Worthwhile

“In our capitalist society, people are not worth helping. There is no apparent economic value in helping others but simply benefit financially from their well-being.”
― Billy Poon, The Selficated Society: Why We Are Depressed in the Modern Age and How You Can Break Free from Suffering to Live a Life Worthwhile

“In a selficated society, we assume the worst about an individual’s reason for existence, not about the best of what that person does.”
― Billy Poon, The Selficated Society: Why We Are Depressed in the Modern Age and How You Can Break Free from Suffering to Live a Life Worthwhile

“Selfishness is the way the few grow stronger and the majority grow weaker. When everyone is selfish, no one wins. There will be fewer people who gain power, but for the majority from which that power stems, there will be nothing left to exploit and extract, and that is the dystopian endgame of Capitalism. The process of exploitation is the very element that fuels the cogs of money, and selfication worsens it.”
― Billy Poon, The Selficated Society: Why We Are Depressed in the Modern Age and How You Can Break Free from Suffering to Live a Life Worthwhile

“Thus, the term 'selfication' was born, which is distinctly similar to the word 'medication.' Selfication is medically inducing the selfish mode of behavior as the solution to further appropriate societal control. With such a selfish behavioral set, people become predictable and controllable.”
― Billy Poon, The Selficated Society: Why We Are Depressed in the Modern Age and How You Can Break Free from Suffering to Live a Life Worthwhile

“In a selficated society, you feel free only when you are never free.”
― Billy Poon, The Selficated Society: Why We Are Depressed in the Modern Age and How You Can Break Free from Suffering to Live a Life Worthwhile

“In a selficated society, you feel free only when you are never free. You are being negotiated constantly to become your own master and slave at the same time, a project-maker and meaning-maker of one’s individuality with the exclusion of others except one’s own activities. It becomes a society habitually wanting itself for itself and by its own volition to stoop within the confines of self-interest.”
― Billy Poon, The Selficated Society: Why We Are Depressed in the Modern Age and How You Can Break Free from Suffering to Live a Life Worthwhile

“The more we selficate, the more we become depressed and lonely.”
― Billy Poon, The Selficated Society: Why We Are Depressed in the Modern Age and How You Can Break Free from Suffering to Live a Life Worthwhile

“The construction of a community around true democracy requires, in its tabernacle, only one thing… Awareness.”
― Raydrich Rocha, Consciência: Delírios e Galopes

“A construção de uma comunidade em torno da verdadeira democracia exige, em seu tabernáculo, apenas uma coisa… Consciência.”
― Raydrich Rocha, Consciência: Delírios e Galopes

“إن عدم ظهور مذهب فلسفي واجتماعي قائم على الإلحاد خلال كل التجارب التي عاصرتها البشرية أدى إلى تحقيق السعادة النفسية للإنسان عموما دليل على أن هذا الاعتقاد ضد طبيعة الإنسان نفسه .. وإذا كان الإلحاد لا يصلح لتوفير منهج مناسب لإدارة الحياة فهو ضد قوانين الحياة، وهذا يعني أنه مذهب غير طبيعي لا ينسجم مع قوانين الكون.”
― طارق أحمد السيد, معادلة الإيمان