Pierre Bourdieu

"Rituals maintain the illusion that society is natural and inevitable."

"Academic credentials are symbols that guarantee social position."

"Those without cultural capital are excluded from fields of power."

"The journalist's role is determined by the field of journalism itself."

"Desire is socially constructed through exposure to cultural products."

"The body is inscribed with the marks of social position."

"Scientific truth claims must be examined for their social function."

"Sociology is a martial art against domination and illusion."

"The state monopolizes legitimate physical and symbolic violence."

"Every cultural preference is a political statement about worth."

"Language practice reveals and maintains class distinctions."

"The field of literature is where struggles over meaning take place."

"What is learned through the body is hardest to unlearn."

"Power operates most effectively when it is invisible and naturalized."

"Academic work must be reflexive about its own social position."

"Cultural goods are status markers before they are aesthetic objects."

"The professions are mechanisms of class closure and privilege."

"Inheritance is about much more than money; it includes cultural wealth."

"Social climbing requires acquiring the tastes of the dominant class."

"The illusion of merit conceals the reality of privilege."

"Bureaucracy is a form of organized violence against the unprepared."

"Culture is a battlefield where social conflicts are played out."

"Those who profit from the system are least likely to examine it."

"The voice is a physical manifestation of social position."

"Museums are temples where cultural capital is consecrated."

"Every interaction carries the weight of social structure within it."

"Taste is acquired through long exposure to cultural forms."

"The concept of genius obscures the social production of art."

"What feels like personal choice is often social necessity."

"The dominant class naturalizes its own way of living."