David Riesman

"The person who stands out is increasingly pathologized as maladjusted."

"We have exchanged the prison of tradition for the prison of popularity."

"The modern person is anxious because they must constantly adjust."

"Autonomy requires the courage to endure the disapproval of others."

"The lonely crowd is a crowd of isolated individuals seeking connection."

"We are all performers in a play written by an unseen audience."

"The inner voice has been replaced by an inner ear, always listening."

"Tradition provided stability; other-direction provides only flux."

"The modern person mistakes responsiveness for responsibility."

"We have lost the ability to disappoint others without disapproving of ourselves."

"The person who seeks their own good is increasingly viewed with suspicion."

"Conformity is comfortable precisely because it requires no self-knowledge."

"The radar within us is both our greatest strength and our deepest weakness."

"We are all strangers in the land of our own desires."

"The modern person is a work of collective authorship."

"Happiness is increasingly defined as the avoidance of disapproval."

"The tradition of individual conscience has been replaced by the collective unconscious."

"We mistake being known for being understood."

"The inner-directed person is increasingly an anachronism."

"Modern society is a symphony where everyone plays the same note."

"We have exchanged the god within for the gods without."

"The person who knows themselves is a liability in a conformist age."

"Loneliness in the crowd is the signature experience of modern life."

"The radar of other-direction is both blessing and curse."

"We are all engaged in the performance of authenticity."

"The modern person is a consumer of approval as much as of anything else."

"Character no longer shapes society; society shapes character."