Robert Staughton Lynd

“We are all caught in a great web of social relationships, and we are all influenced by the culture in which we live.”

“It is the customary task of the social sciences to be wise after the event.”

“Research without an actively selective point of view becomes the ditty bag of an idiot, filled with bits of pebbles, straws, feathers, and other random hoardings.”

“The social scientist is not an umpire but a player.”

“Knowledge for what? The answer is: for the service of men.”

“A community is not a mere collection of individuals, but a complex web of social relationships.”

“There is no such thing as 'the' public; there are only publics.”

“Culture is not a decorous thing.”

“The family is the primary agency for the transmission of culture.”

“In a society that is changing as rapidly as ours, it is essential that we should be able to look at ourselves with a certain amount of detachment.”