Émile Durkheim

The more primitive a society, the more extensive the role of religion.

There is no society that does not have a certain number of crimes.

Society is not a mere sum of individuals; it is a system formed by their association, and it represents a specific reality which has its own characteristics.

The cause of suicide is not to be found in the individual's temperament, but in the social environment.

The sacred and the profane are two distinct classes, two worlds, between which there is nothing in common.

Collective representations are the result of an immense cooperation which extends not only in space but also in time.

The normal is that which is most common.

The individual is dominated by a moral reality which is superior to him: namely, society.

Punishment is above all a means of maintaining intact the cohesion of society.

The more the individual is integrated into society, the less likely he is to commit suicide.

The state is not merely an instrument of oppression; it is also a moral agency.

The essential characteristic of a social fact is that it exerts an external constraint upon the individual.

There is no society without religion.

The individual is nothing without society.

Mechanical solidarity is based on the similarity of individuals.

Organic solidarity is based on the interdependence of individuals.

The cult is not merely a system of signs by which the faith is outwardly expressed; it is the faith itself.

The collective effervescence is the source of all religious experience.

The more complex a society, the more the individual is freed from the collective consciousness.

Moral authority is the only authority that can truly bind individuals.