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America is not only big and rich, it is mysterious; and its capacity for the humorous or ironical concealment of its interests matches that of the legendary inscrutable Chinese.

— David Riesman The Lonely Crowd (1950)

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More quotes by David Riesman

Etiquette can be at the same time a means of approaching people and of staying clear of them.

The Lonely Crowd (1950)

The idea that men are created free and equal is both true and misleading: men are created different; they lose their social freedom and their individual autonomy in seeking to become like each other.

The Lonely Crowd (1950)

The mass media are the wholesalers; the peer-groups, the retailers of the communications industry.

The Lonely Crowd (1950)

Those who are excluded from meaningful work are, by and large, excluded from meaningful play.

Individualism Reconsidered (1954)

Today the future occupation of all moppets is to be skilled consumers.

The Lonely Crowd (1950)

All David Riesman quotes →

Attribution

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