51+ Best Sociology Quotes About Human Behavior

Srija Chanda
Dec 12, 2023 By Srija Chanda
Originally Published on Feb 09, 2021
Edited by Isobel Murphy
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Sociology quotes are interesting to read as they provide us insight into society.

People who love to study sociology, philosophy, psychology and even economics, all have to deal with homo sapiens and their nature in various ways of their own. Everyone that studies sociology, in particularly, studies one or more aspects of human behavior.

So, most sociology quotes are quotes about men and women and their interactions within society.

Sociology quotes describe how a man and a woman would behave, change, grow, establish and die within their society, culture, nature, work, ethnicity and social circles. You may find it insightful to see just how much knowledge there is to find through the study of society.

These quotes are sure to make you understand why studying sociology is so important to humankind, and that's why we present to you this bunch of diversely curated sociology quotes, we hope you will find joy and power in this.

If you liked these quotes, then you may like these society quotes or community quotes.

The Best Sociology Quotes On Human Behavior And Nature

Any sociological quote on people and their life action can be part of this list of sociology quotes. Thus, these are the best quotes to help you to understand human behavior and nature.

1. "If it's far away, it's news, but if it's close at home, it's sociology."

- James Reston.

2. "It's not what happens to us, but our response to what happens to us that hurts us."

- Stephen R. Covey.

3. "I love to study people, and that's basically what sociology is."

- Kamaru Usman.

4. "Human well-being is not a random phenomenon. It depends on many factors — ranging from genetics and neurobiology to sociology and economics.."

- Sam Harris.

Quotes About Sociology, Social Science And Education

Sociology is actually a part of a vast subject called the social sciences, that at an elementary level, deals with geography, economics, political science and sociology. These quotes will help you get a better grasp of sociology, and understand why it is so valuable to study!

5. "I was a sociology major and it had nothing to do necessarily with law...[I] choose something that I was passionate about or something that I cared about."

- Michelle Obama.

6. "Historically, sociology has its main roots in politics and philosophy of history."

- Morris Ginsberg.

7. "I wasn't a great student; I was lazy. But when I was in sociology class, I listened."

- Eric Stonestreet.

8. "Sociology studies man as a social organization, political science is a more specialized science than sociology."

- R.N. Gilchrist.

9. "The next time some academics tell you how important diversity is, ask how many Republicans there are in their sociology department."

- Thomas Sowell.

10. "While economics is about how people make choices, sociology is about how they don't have any choice to make."

- Bertrand Russell.

11. "History is, strictly speaking, the study of questions; the study of answers belongs to anthropology and sociology."

- W. H. Auden.

12. "Academic sociologists have been trained to conceive of their discipline - sociology - as the scientific study of society and remit to the sister discipline of psychology the study of individuals."

- Richard Wall.

13. "Education is free. Freedom of education shall be enjoyed under the condition fixed by law and under the supreme control of the state."

-Karl Marx.

14. "Most institutions demand unqualified faith, but the institution of science makes skepticism a virtue."

- Robert K. Merton.

15. "In science, when human behavior enters the equation, things go non-linear. That's why physics is easy and sociology is hard."

- Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

16. "Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."

- B. F. Skinner.

17. "Kids don't remember what you try to teach. They remember what you are."

- Jim Henson.

Funny Sociology Quotes

Sociology has its own sense of humor in form of satire and irony and is one of a kind.

18. "Whatever sociology may be, it is the result of constantly asking the question, what is the meaning of this?"

-  C. Wright Mills

19. "I really want to go back to school and finish up my sociology degree."

- Alicia Sacramone.

20. "If the nineteenth century was the age of the editorial chair, ours is the century of psychiatrists couch."

- Marshall McLuhan.

21. "In the case of sociology however, we are always walking on hot coals, and the things we discuss are alive, they're not dead and buried."

- Pierre Bourdieu.

22. "Sociology is the science with the greatest number of methods and the least results."

- Henri Poincare.

Famous Sociology Quotes

These are quotes we generally hear when sociology and similar subjects are in conversation.

23. "Even at its most perceptive, sociology deals in abstractions."

- Richard Russo

24. "The creative act is not pure. History evidences it. Ideology demands it. Sociology exacts it."

- Nadine Gordimer

25. "To teach the theory of the state to men who have not learnt the first principles of sociology is like teaching astronomy or thermodynamics to men who have not learnt Newton's Laws of Motion."

- Giddings.

26. "Happy is the people that is without history. And thrice is the people without sociology. "

- Christopher Henry Dawson.

Powerful Quotes On Sociology

Every quote below has been known to bring changes to one's nature of thoughts or perspective of life. They hold extreme power of influence but also the power of freedom.

27. "My students often ask me, 'What is Sociology?'. And I tell them, 'It's the study of the way which human beings are shaped by things that they don't see.'"

- Sam Richards.

28. "The function of sociology, as of every science, is to reveal that which is hidden."

- Pierre Bourdieu.

29. "I'm a huge feminist, I majored in sociology at college, and I care about what I put into the world."

- Beanie Feldstein.

30. "With sociology, one can do anything and call it work."

- Malcolm Bradbury.

31. "History, sociology, economics, psychology et al. confirmed Joyce's view of Everyman as a victim."

- Robert Anton Wilson.

Sociological Quotes On Modern Society

Sociological views and theories have changed with changing times and their norms. Discover them here.

32. "The internet is the Petri dish of humanity, We can't control what grows in it, but we don't have to watch either."

- Tiffany Madison.

33. "I guess hip-hop has been closer to the pulse of the streets than any music we've had in a long time. Its sociology as well as music, which is in keeping with the tradition of black music in America."

- Quincy Jones.

34. "Modern sociology is virtually an attempt to take up the larger program of social analysis... prevailing interest in the technique of the production of wealth."

- Albion Woodbury Small.

35. "Social media is about sociology and psychology more than technology."

- Brian Solis.

36. "All theory in modernity in sociology suggests that the more modernity there is, the less religion. In my theory, we can realize that this is wrong; atheism is only one belief system among many."

- Ulrich Beck.

37. "Sociology was born of the modern ardor to improve society."

- Albion Woodbury Small.

38. "The first and most fundamental rule is: consider social facts as things."

- Emile Durkheim.

Sociology Quotes By Famous Sociologists

Here are some sociology quotes by Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, Pierre L. Van Den Bergh,  and other famous sociologists and thinkers.

39. "It is only by historical analysis that we can discover what makes up man since it is only in the course of history that he is formed."

- Emile Durkheim.

40. "Sociology seems to have missed every intellectually promising boat in the last half-century."

- Pierre L. Van Den Berghe.

41. "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs."

-Karl Marx.

42. "Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both."

- C. Wright Mills.

43. "A cardinal American virtue, 'ambition,' promotes a cardinal American vice, 'deviant behavior'."

- Robert King Merton.

44. "The most elementary communication is not possible without some degree of conformity to the 'conventions' of the symbolic system."

- Talcott Parsons.

45. "No sociologist, for instance, should think himself too good, even in his old age, to make tens of thousands of quite trivial computations in his head and perhaps for months at a time."

- Max Weber.

46. "One cannot be deeply responsive to the world without being saddened very often."

- Erich Fromm.

47. "Socialism is not science, sociology in miniature: it is cry of pain."

- Emile Durkheim.

48. "A negative judgment gives you more satisfaction than praise, provided it smacks of jealousy."

- Jean Baudrillard.

49. "The confusion in the social sciences is moral as well as scientific, political as well as intellectual."

- C. Wright Mills.

50. "Good sociology is sociological work that produces meaningful descriptions of organizations and... proposals for their improvement or removal."

- Howard. S. Becker.

51. "It is only by historical analysis that we can discover what makes up man, since it is only in the course of history that he is formed."

- Emile Durkheim.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for sociology quotes then why not take a look at these [Civil Rights quotes] or [social work quotes] for more?

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Written by Srija Chanda

Master of Arts specializing in Mass Communication/Media Studies

Srija Chanda picture

Srija ChandaMaster of Arts specializing in Mass Communication/Media Studies

An aspiring media professional, Srija is currently pursuing her Master's degree in Mass Communication at St. Xavier's University, Kolkata, after completing her degree in journalism. With experience in PR and social media, she has also honed her leadership skills through her participation in a youth parliament. Srija's interests include devouring books, watching movies, and exploring new places through travel.

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