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William Graham Sumner

William Graham Sumner Books

Political scientist

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“Everywhere you go on the continent of Europe at this hour you see the conflict between militarism and industrialism. You see the expansion of industrial power pushed forward by the energy, hope, and thrift of men, and you see the development arrested, diverted, crippled, and defeated by measures which are dictated by military considerations.”

MenEnergyHoursPowerMilitaryGoes OnDevelopmentConflictEuropeOppressionDeceptionConsiderationContinentsDefeatedExpansionArrestedThriftCrippledMilitarism
Book:War and Other Essays
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“Ideals are very often formed in the effort to escape from the hard task of dealing with facts, which is the function of science and art. There is no process by which to reach an ideal. There are no tests by which to verify it. It is therefore impossible to frame a proposition about an ideal which can be proved or disproved. It follows that the use of ideals is to be strictly limited to proper cases, and that the attempt to use ideals in social discussion does not deserve serious consideration.”

DoeArtHardFactsUseSocialProcessEffortCasesImpossibleSeriousDeserveIdealsTasksTestsFunctionDiscussionConsiderationPropositionsArt And ScienceVerify
Book:Folkways: A Study of Mores, Manners, Customs and Morals
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“The Forgotten Man... works, he votes, generally he prays-but he always pays-yes, above all, he pays. He does not want an office; his name never gets into the newspaper except when he gets married or dies. He keeps production going on.... He does not frequent the grocery or talk politics at the tavern. Consequently, he is forgotten.... All the burdens fall on him, or on her, for it is time to remember that the Forgotten Man is not seldom a woman.”

MenWantDoeRememberDiesFallNamesPayPrayingOfficeMarriedVoteForgottenProductionsBurdenNewspapersGroceriesTaverns
Author:William Graham Sumner
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“My patriotism is of the kind which is outraged by the notion that the United States never was a great nation until in a petty three months' campaign it knocked to pieces a poor, decrepit, bankrupt old state like Spain. To hold such an opinion as that is to abandon all American standards, to put shame and scorn on all that our ancestors tried to build up here, and to go over to the standards of which Spain is a representative.”

KindStatesThreeNationsPoorUnitedOpinionUnited StatesPiecesMonthsStandardsShameNotionCampaignsAbandonAncestorRepresentativesSpainPettyScornThree MonthsGreat NationsOutragedDecrepit
Book:War and Other Essays
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“For A to sit down and think, What shall I do? is commonplace; but to think what B ought to do is interesting, romantic, moral, self-flattering, and public-spirited all at once. It satisfies a great number of human weaknesses at once. To go on and plan what a whole class of people ought to do is to feel one's self a power on earth, to win a public position, to clothe one's self in dignity. Hence we have an unlimited supply of reformers, philanthropists, humanitarians, and would-be managers-in-general of society.”

PeopleThinkingFeelsHumansSelfWholeWould BeEarthWinningInterestingNumbersMoralClassPlansPositionGoes OnOughtWeaknessDignityDown AndManagersUnlimitedCommonplaceFlatteringSpiritedReformersPhilanthropist
Book:What Social Classes Owe to Each Other
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“The class distinctions simply result from the different degrees of success with which men have availed themselves of the chances which were presented to them. Instead of endeavoring to redistribute the acquisitions which have been made between the existing classes, our aim should be to increase, multiply, and extend the chances.”

MenShouldHas BeensMadeDifferentChanceResultsClassDegreesIncreaseAimDistinctionAcquisitionClass Distinction
Book:What Social Classes Owe to Each Other
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“The yearning after equality [in economic outcome] is the offspring of envy and covetousness, and there is no possible plan for satisfying that yearning which can do aught else than rob A to give to B; consequently all such plans nourish some of the meanest vices of human nature, waste capital, and overthrow civilization.”

GivingHumansCan DoPlansEconomicHuman NatureCivilizationWasteVicesEnvyOutcomesSatisfyingYearningOffspringCovetousness
Author:William Graham Sumner
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“If any student of social science comes to appreciate the case of the Forgotten Man, he will become an unflinching advocate of strict scientific thinking in sociology, and a hard-hearted skeptic as regards any scheme of social amelioration. He will always want to know, Who and where is the Forgotten Man in this case, who will have to pay for it all?”

IfsThinkingKnowsMenWantHardSocialPayCasesStudentsAppreciateRegardForgottenSchemesStrictSociologyHeartedSkepticSocial Science
Book:What Social Classes Owe to Each Other
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“In the New Testament it is taught that willing and voluntary service to others is the highest duty and glory in human life. . . . The men of talent are constantly forced to serve the rest. They make the discoveries and inventions, order the battles, write the books, and produce the works of art. The benefit and enjoyment go to the whole. There are those who joyfully order their own lives so that they may serve the welfare of mankind.”

MenLifeWritingHumansMayArtBookWholeOrderMankindTalentProduceTaughtWillingHe ManDutyBattleBenefitsHighestGloryDiscoveryInventionHuman LifeWelfareEnjoymentWorks Of ArtTestamentNew TestamentService To OthersDiscovery And Invention
Book:Folkways - A Study Of The Sociological Importance Of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores And Morals
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