David Riesman

"Compassion is the mark of civilization."

"The tradition-directed person is dependent on other people and on the customs of his group."

"We are all trying to do a very difficult thing - to live together in a society that is becoming increasingly complex."

"The inner-directed person has internalized the goals and values of his group."

"Modern man has lost the ability to be bored; boredom has become a luxury."

"We have become dependent on the opinions of others in ways our ancestors never were."

"The peer group becomes the arbiter of behavior and belief in the other-directed society."

"Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth."

"In the pursuit of belonging, we often abandon the pursuit of becoming ourselves."

"The character structure of modern man must be examined if we are to understand our times."

"We are trapped in a web of our own creation - a network of mutual surveillance."

"The consumption of goods has become a form of identity construction."

"Leisure has become as managed and commodified as work itself."

"The crowd has become internalized; we carry our judges within us."

"Society demands that we perform a self that may not be authentic."

"We mistake information for knowledge, and knowledge for wisdom."

"The mass media serves as a powerful tool of social conformity."

"Each generation must rediscover the meaning of freedom for itself."

"Character is not fixed; it is shaped by the social structures in which we live."

"The other-directed person seeks constant feedback from their social environment."

"Autonomy requires both self-knowledge and courage to act upon it."

"We live in an age of what I call 'The Lonely Crowd.'"

"The illusion of choice often masks the reality of conformity."

"Culture industries shape not just what we consume but who we are."

"The radar for approval is constantly scanning our social horizon."

"Modern alienation stems from our disconnection from meaningful work."

"We have organized society around the satisfaction of false needs."

"Education must teach us to think critically about the forces that shape us."

"The tradition-directed person knew their place; the other-directed person seeks to find theirs."

"Consumption patterns reveal the anxieties of a society."