George Herbert Mead

Sociology American 1863 – 1931 100 quotes

A founder of symbolic interactionism, his work on the self, mind, and society emphasized the role of social interaction in shaping identity.

Quotes by George Herbert Mead

The gesture is the beginning of meaning.

Lecture 1910

Self-consciousness arises through the taking of the role of the other.

Mind, Self, and Society 1934

The organized community or social group Mead terms the 'generalized other.'

Mind, Self, and Society 1934

Reality is what emerges from the social process.

The Philosophy of the Present 1932

The individual mind is a product of social interaction.

Mind, Self, and Society 1934

Play is the child's first introduction to the social self.

Mind, Self, and Society 1934

The game situation introduces the generalized other.

Mind, Self, and Society 1934

Thought is internalized conversation.

Mind, Self, and Society 1934

The present is the locus of reality.

The Philosophy of the Present 1932

Symbols are the tools of social adjustment.

Journal Article 1913

The self arises in relation to things.

Movements of Thought in the Nineteenth Century 1936

Social control is achieved through the mechanism of the self.

Mind, Self, and Society 1934

The conversation of gestures is the basis of mind.

Mind, Self, and Society 1934

Time is not a container but an emergent process.

The Philosophy of the Present 1932

The 'me' is the social self, the 'I' is the response.

Mind, Self, and Society 1934

Society exists only in the minds of its members.

Lecture 1927

The act is the unit of social psychology.

The Philosophy of the Act 1938

Perception is a social act.

The Philosophy of the Act 1938

The world is what we make it through interaction.

The Philosophy of the Present 1932

Language is the medium of social coordination.

Mind, Self, and Society 1934