Charles Cooley

"I am not who you think I am; I am not who I think I am; I am who I think you think I am."

"The looking-glass self is the sum of the impressions of how we appear to others."

"We live in the mind, in ideas, in imagination."

"Society is a relation among individuals."

"The self is something which has a development; it is not initially there, at birth, but arises in the process of social experience."

"I see myself as others see me. This looking-glass self shapes who I become."

"Human nature is not something existing in isolation, but something existing only as far as it is developed in an individual mind which is a member of a society."

"To think is to speak low to oneself."

"The individual mind can exist only in relation to other minds with shared understandings of symbols."

"We must imagine ourselves in the place of another."

"The growth of the mind is the unfolding of experience."

"Pride is the consequence of having some real advantages and the reasonable hope of more."

"The true test of civilization is not the census, nor the size of cities, but the kind of man the country turns out."

"Social organization is the very soul of human life."

"Imagination is the beginning of creation."

"The mind is a process, not a thing."

"Language is the expression of ideas, and if the people of one country cannot preserve an immaculate language they will lose by degrees a very important advantage."

"Success is measured not by what we accomplish, but by how well we understand our place in society."

"The face is the index of the mind."

"Men are not really changed by education; they are revealed."

"The reflective mind is like a mirror."

"We are all looking-glasses to one another."

"Society without individuals is impossible, and individuals without society are impossible."

"Communication is the bridge between minds."

"To understand yourself, you must understand how others perceive you."

"Our personality is a reflection of the society in which we live."

"The self is born of contact with other selves."

"Identity is not fixed but fluid, changing with each social interaction."

"The mind grows through participation in the life of the community."

"Social sympathy is the root of moral sentiment."