Charles Cooley

"The emotions we feel are often anticipations of social judgment."

"To reduce another person to a stereotype is to prevent true understanding."

"The imagination of others' thoughts about us shapes our personality more than genetics."

"Society rewards those who can imaginatively enter into others' perspectives."

"The looking glass never shows us an objective self, only a reflected one."

"Self-consciousness is the awareness of being an object in others' minds."

"The artist's role is to expand the collective imagination of society."

"A just society protects the dignity of all its members in the social mirror."

"The development of conscience depends entirely on social interaction and reflection."

"We cannot know ourselves without reference to how we imagine others perceive us."

"The health of society mirrors the health of its individual relationships."

"To be human is to be perpetually aware of others' awareness of us."

"The looking glass self is not vanity; it is the foundation of social existence."

"Those who claim to be unaffected by others' opinions are either liars or isolated."

"The imagination required for empathy is the same required for moral growth."

"A truly free society allows individuals to imagine themselves differently."

"The construction of identity is a social activity, never a private one."

"Social progress requires us to recognize our own role in others' looking glasses."

"The pain of rejection comes from imagining ourselves as others see us."

"To understand a culture, study how it teaches people to imagine themselves."

"The self is a conversation between what we think and what we imagine others think."

"Authentic leadership means making others feel valued in the social mirror."

"The greatest barrier to love is the fear that the other's mirror will reveal too much."

"Society's greatest resource is the accumulated imagination of its members."

"The looking glass self explains why solitude can be both healing and painful."

"To change how you see yourself, change who you imagine is watching you."

"The imagination of worth is the first step toward genuine self-respect."

"A person without social mirror would have no personality at all."

"The beauty of society lies in the complexity of its many looking glasses."

"We are all both mirrors and mirrors for others simultaneously."