C. Wright Mills

Sociology American 1916 – 1962 101 quotes

A critical sociologist known for his concept of the 'sociological imagination' and his critique of power elites in American society.

Quotes by C. Wright Mills

The corporate rich and the power elite are one and the same.

The Power Elite 1956

In America, from a certain point of view, there is no class structure.

White Collar 1951

The new middle class is composed of white-collar people.

White Collar 1951

Revolution is not a dinner party.

Listen, Yankee 1960

The intellectual life is a life of leisure.

The Sociological Imagination 1959

Freedom is not merely the absence of restraint but the presence of opportunity.

The Sociological Imagination 1959

The warlords are the new kings.

The Power Elite 1956

Man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun.

The Sociological Imagination 1959

The salesmen of American civilization are its missionaries.

White Collar 1951

To be an intellectual means to be free of the immediate pressures of society.

Speech at Columbia University 1960

The promise of the 20th century is false.

The Sociological Imagination 1959

Bureaucracy has become the new aristocracy.

The Power Elite 1956

Life in America has become a nervous breakdown.

White Collar 1951

The Cuban revolution is a fact of history.

Listen, Yankee 1960

Sociologists must be public intellectuals.

The Sociological Imagination 1959

The individual is not a lone actor but a member of a social world.

The Sociological Imagination 1959

Power is concentrated in the hands of a few.

The Power Elite 1956

The white-collar world is a world of paper.

White Collar 1951

History is made by men, but not always as they please.

The Sociological Imagination 1959

The elite are not a conspiracy but a social fact.

The Power Elite 1956