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Imagine a society of saints, a perfect cloister of exemplary individuals. Crimes, properly so called, will there be unknown; but faults which appear venial to the layman will create there the same scandal that the ordinary offense does in ordinary consciousnesses. If, then, this society has the power to judge and punish, it will define these acts as criminal and will treat them as such.

— Émile Durkheim

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More quotes by Émile Durkheim

Methodological rules are for science what rules of law and custom are for conduct.

The Division of Labor in Society (1893)

Solidarity can grow only in inverse ratio to personality.

The Division of Labor in Society (1893)

Solidarity which comes from likenesses is at its maximum when the collective conscience completely envelops our whole conscience and coincides in all points with it.

The Division of Labor in Society (1893)

There is no sociology worthy of the name which does not possess a historical character.

Debate on Explanation in History and Sociology (1908)

The general conclusion of the book which the reader has before him is that religion is something eminently social.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Émile Durkheim (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.