American - Sociologist | August 28, 1916 - March 20, 1962
Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both.
C. Wright Mills
LifeHistorySocietyUnderstanding
Prestige is the shadow of money and power.
PowerMoneyShadowPrestige
Not wishing to be disturbed over moral issues of the political economy, Americans cling to the notion that the government is a sort of automatic machine, regulated by the balancing of competing interests.
GovernmentPoliticalMoralEconomy
Power is not of a man. Wealth does not center in the person of the wealthy. Celebrity is not inherent in any personality. To be celebrated, to be wealthy, to have power requires access to major institutions.
PowerPersonalityManFamousWealth
America is a nation with no truly national city, no Paris, no Rome, no London, no city which is at once the social center, the political capital, and the financial hub.
CityFinancialPoliticalAmerica
People with advantages are loath to believe that they just happen to be people with advantages.
PeopleBelieveHappenJustLoath
The principal cause of war is war itself.
WarPrincipalCauseItself
The nearest the modern general or admiral comes to a small-arms encounter of any sort is at a duck hunt in the company of corporation executives at the retreat of Continental Motors, Inc.
DuckCompanyModernRetreatHunt
In the world of the celebrity, the hierarchy of publicity has replaced the hierarchy of descent and even of great wealth.
GreatWorldWealthCelebrityEven
Every revolution has its counterrevolution - that is a sign the revolution is for real.
RevolutionRealSignEvery
What ordinary men are directly aware of and what they try to do are bounded by the private orbits in which they live; their visions and their powers are limited.
LiveMenTryOrdinaryAwareLimited
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