social behavior quotes

I became a people-watcher when I lost all my friends when I was 12.

Funny thing is that the poorer people are, the more generous they seem to be.

The human being is in the most literal sense a political animal, not merely a gregarious animal, but an animal which can individuate itself only in the midst of society.

It’s not just human nature to associate in tribes. It’s deeper than that.

Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd.

The only time people dislike gossip is when you gossip about them.

Primate and elephant and even pig societies show considerable evidence of care for others, parent-child bonding, solidarity in the face of danger, and so on.

Wine makes a man more pleased with himself; I do not say it makes him more pleasing to others.

Aggression unopposed becomes a contagious disease.

I started out in anthropology, so to me how society works, how people put themselves together and make things work, has always been a big interest.

When I was in college I did a lot of stupid things and I don’t want to make an excuse for that. Some of the things that people accuse me of are true, some of them aren’t. There are pranks, IMs.

I’m interested in the fact that the less secure a man is, the more likely he is to have extreme prejudice.

What I’d really like to control is not machines, but people.

When it comes to gossip, I have to readily admit men are as guilty as women.