To get away from one's working environment is, in a sense, to get away from one's self; and this is often the chief advantage of travel and change.
Charles Horton CooleyRead
The imaginations which people have of one another are the solid facts of society.
Interpretation
What this quote means
People's perceptions of each other shape the reality of society.
This quote by Charles Horton Cooley emphasizes the importance of social perceptions in constructing reality. Our imaginations and beliefs about other individuals influence societal relationships and dynamics, suggesting that how we view each other can create substantial impacts on social interactions and structures.
Themes
ImaginationSocietyPerceptionRelationshipsSocial Dynamics
In practice
Example use cases
During a seminar on social psychology, this quote can illustrate how perceptions influence group behavior.
More from Charles Horton Cooley
All quotes βIf we divine a discrepancy between a man's words and his character, the whole impression of him becomes broken and painful; he revolts the imagination by his lack of unity, and even the good in him is hardly accepted.
Charles Horton CooleyRead
We have no higher life that is really apart from other people. It is by imagining them that our personality is built up; to be without the power of imagining them is to be a low-grade idiot.
Charles Horton CooleyRead
Each man must have his I; it is more necessary to him than bread; and if he does not find scope for it within the existing institutions he will be likely to make trouble.
Charles Horton CooleyRead
The thing that moves us to pride or shame is not the mere mechanical reflection of ourselves but the imagined effect of this reflection upon another's mind.
Charles Horton CooleyRead
By recognizing a favorable opinion of yourself, and taking pleasure in it, you in a measure give yourself and your peace of mind into the keeping of another, of whose attitude you can never be certain. You have a new source of doubt and apprehension.
Charles Horton CooleyRead
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