Émile Durkheim

Sociology is the science of institutions, of their genesis and of their functioning.

The social milieu is the determining factor of social phenomena.

Egoistic suicide results from a lack of integration of the individual into society.

Altruistic suicide results from an excessive integration of the individual into society.

Anomic suicide results from a lack of regulation of the individual by society.

Fatalistic suicide results from an excessive regulation of the individual by society.

The school is the moral environment par excellence.

The family is the primary agent of socialization.

The collective effervescence is the source of religious sentiment.

The individual is only an abstraction.

The social fact is defined by its coerciveness.

Morality begins with life in society.

The division of labor is a source of solidarity.

The individual is only a part of the whole.

The collective consciousness is the soul of society.

I feel more and more that the only way to be useful is to devote oneself to a single task, to concentrate all one's efforts on it, and to pursue it with an unwavering will.

Sociology is not a science of facts, but a science of ideas.

The individual is not an isolated atom; he is a part of a whole, and his life is determined by the life of that whole.

I am convinced that the future of humanity depends on the development of a scientific morality.

The true function of education is to prepare the individual for social life.