--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Crime brings together honest men and…" description: "\"“Crime brings together honest men and concentrates them.”\" — Émile Durkheim" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b0/emile-durkheim-7413_crime_crime-brings-together-honest-men-and-con_921360.jpg" --- # Crime brings together honest men and concentrates them. ![“Crime brings together honest men and concentrates them.” quote by Émile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b0/emile-durkheim-7413_crime_crime-brings-together-honest-men-and-con_921360.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b0/emile-durkheim-7413_crime_crime-brings-together-honest-men-and-con_921360.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b0/emile-durkheim-7413_crime_crime-brings-together-honest-men-and-con_921360.jpg) > ““Crime brings together honest men and concentrates them.”” [Émile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Crime unites law-abiding citizens by creating a common enemy, strengthening social cohesion. **In simple terms:** Crime brings people together. Key Takeaway Recognize shared values in adversity. Themes sociology crime solidarity Mood analytical thoughtful Type sociological observational When to use this quote - community meetings - law enforcement training - public policy debates Key Concepts social cohesion collective conscience conflict theory Questions to Reflect On - How does shared threat shape group identity? - Can solidarity be built without conflict? A Different Perspective It ignores victims' suffering and the moral cost of crime. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brings Honest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brings-honest-1429195/) [Crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crime/) [Crime Brings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crime-brings-1429193/) [Honest Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honest-men/) [Men Concentrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-concentrates-1429194/) [Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society/) [Theory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theory/) ## Related quotes > [It is the bungled crime that brings remorse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-the-bungled-crime-that-brings-remorse/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Time is the only test of honest men, one day is space enough to know a rogue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/time-is-the-only-test-of-honest-men-one-day-is-space-enough-to-know-a/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“If you only notice human proceedings, you may observe that all who attain great power and riches, make use of either force or fraud;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/if-you-only-notice-human-proceedings-you-may-observe-that-all-who/) [Niccolò Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [Do what you believe to be right, and ever hold it for a maxim, that if the skies fall through your doing right, honest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/do-what-you-believe-to-be-right-and-ever-hold-it-for-a-maxim-that-if/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [“Honest things, like honest men, do not have to explain themselves so openly. What must first be proved is worth little.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/honest-things-like-honest-men-do-not-have-to-explain-themselves-so/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Let us be honest. Did all the priests of Rome increase the mental wealth of man as much as Bruno? Did all the priests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-g-ingersoll/let-us-be-honest-did-all-the-priests-of-rome-increase-the-mental/) [Robert G. Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-g-ingersoll/) > [Politicians are a set of men who have interests aside from the interests of the people and who, to say the most of them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/politicians-are-a-set-of-men-who-have-interests-aside-from-the/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [It is curious - but you cannot make a revolution without honest men. ... Every revolution has had its honest men. 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Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-e-fisher/) > [Tobacco is the passion of honest men and he who lives without tobacco is not worthy of living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/tobacco-is-the-passion-of-honest-men-and-he-who-lives-without-tobacco/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) ## More by Émile Durkheim > [Man seeks to learn, and man kills himself because of the loss of cohesion in his religious society; he does not kill himself because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/man-seeks-to-learn-and-man-kills-himself-because-of-the-loss-of/) [Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) > [Irrespective of any external, regulatory force, our capacity for feeling is in itself an insatiable and bottomless abyss.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/irrespective-of-any-external-regulatory-force-our-capacity-for/) [Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) > [Man's characteristic privilege is that the bond he accepts is not physical but moral; that is, social. He is governed not by a material…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/man-s-characteristic-privilege-is-that-the-bond-he-accepts-is-not/) [Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) > [It is only by historical analysis that we can discover what makes up man, since it is only in the course of history that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/it-is-only-by-historical-analysis-that-we-can-discover-what-makes-up/) [Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) > [There is no sociology worthy of the name which does not possess a historical character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/there-is-no-sociology-worthy-of-the-name-which-does-not-possess-a/) [Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) > [The liberal professions, and in a wider sense the well-to-do classes, are certainly those with the liveliest taste for knowledge and the most active…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/the-liberal-professions-and-in-a-wider-sense-the-well-to-do-classes/) [Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) > [If religion has given birth to all that is essential in society, it is because the idea of society is the soul of religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/if-religion-has-given-birth-to-all-that-is-essential-in-society-it-is/) [Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) > [The man whose whole activity is diverted to inner meditation becomes insensible to all his surroundings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/the-man-whose-whole-activity-is-diverted-to-inner-meditation-becomes/) [Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) > [Man is a moral being, only because he lives in society. Let all social life disappear and morality will disappear with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/man-is-a-moral-being-only-because-he-lives-in-society-let-all-social/) [Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) > [One does not advance when one walks toward no goal, or - which is the same thing - when his goal is infinity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/one-does-not-advance-when-one-walks-toward-no-goal-or-which-is-the/) [Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) > [The roles of art, morality, religion, political faith, science itself are not to repair organic exhaustion nor to provide sound functioning of the organs.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/the-roles-of-art-morality-religion-political-faith-science-itself-are/) [Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) > [One cannot long remain so absorbed in contemplation of emptiness without being increasingly attracted to it. In vain, one bestows on it the name…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/one-cannot-long-remain-so-absorbed-in-contemplation-of-emptiness/) [Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) > [The man whose whole activity is diverted to inner meditation becomes insensible to all his surroundings. His passions are mere appearances, being sterile. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/the-man-whose-whole-activity-is-diverted-to-inner-meditation-becomes-2/) [Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) > [By definition, sacred beings are separated beings. That which characterizes them is that there is a break of continuity between them and the profane…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/by-definition-sacred-beings-are-separated-beings-that-which/) [Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) > [For a long time it has been known that the first systems of representations with which men have pictured to themselves the world and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/for-a-long-time-it-has-been-known-that-the-first-systems-of/) [Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) [Explore all 87 Émile Durkheim quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) ## More Crime quotes > [Joking about violence is not funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/perez-hilton/joking-about-violence-is-not-funny/) [Perez Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/perez-hilton/) > [“Crime and punishment can be summed up in two classifications: there are bad people and there are people who get into bad situations. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnnie-dent-jr/crime-and-punishment-can-be-summed-up-in-two-classifications-there/) [Johnnie Dent Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnnie-dent-jr/) > [With 'Pretty Girls,' I saw the opportunity to talk not just about crime but what crime leaves behind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karin-slaughter/with-pretty-girls-i-saw-the-opportunity-to-talk-not-just-about-crime/) [Karin Slaughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karin-slaughter/) > [“The jailers, the Court, everyone in that building – it wasn’t about justice; it was about obedience and intimidation…about maintaining order. Fear accomplished that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-allan/the-jailers-the-court-everyone-in-that-building-it-wasn-t-about/) [Jay Allan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-allan/) > [Taking notes while watching Forensic Files and Snapped. I don't want to make the same mistakes the criminals do! ;)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/taking-notes-while-watching-forensic-files-and-snapped-i-don-t-want/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/a-man-could-be-a-lover-and-defender-of-the-wilderness-without-ever-in/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Nations sometimes flourish by denying the crimes that brought them into being. Only when the original invasion, occupation, extermination or usurpation has been safely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/nations-sometimes-flourish-by-denying-the-crimes-that-brought-them/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [The danger that may really threaten (crime fiction) is that soon there will be more writers than readers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/the-danger-that-may-really-threaten-crime-fiction-is-that-soon-there/) [Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/) > [“a crime to fell a tree and light it on fire, where coals of hardened shit warmed and stunk up homes,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/a-crime-to-fell-a-tree-and-light-it-on-fire-where-coals-of-hardened/) [Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/) > [A great read; an exciting, frightening account of organized crime today. But like all important works of nonfiction, it goes further… This book is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/le-ly-hayslip/a-great-read-an-exciting-frightening-account-of-organized-crime-today/) [Le Ly Hayslip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/le-ly-hayslip/) > [History is the study of the world's crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/history-is-the-study-of-the-world-s-crime/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [If it comes to a question of law, the charges they brought against me - the Espionage Act - is called the quintessential political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/if-it-comes-to-a-question-of-law-the-charges-they-brought-against-me/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [Too much virtue can be criminal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-racine/too-much-virtue-can-be-criminal/) [Jean Racine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-racine/) > [The federal prison population increased by almost 800 percent between 1980 and 2013, often at a far faster rate than the Bureau of Prisons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-yates/the-federal-prison-population-increased-by-almost-800-percent-between/) [Sally Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-yates/) > [ \[P\]rogress, however, has not sufficiently infiltrated the Interior Ministry, affording protection to those who participated in the Bytyqi murders and other egregious Milosevic-era crimes. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avis-bohlen/p-rogress-however-has-not-sufficiently-infiltrated-the-interior/) [Avis Bohlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avis-bohlen/) [Browse all 8,359 Crime quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crime/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Crime brings together honest men and concentrates them.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Émile Durkheim" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/crime-brings-together-honest-men-and-concentrates-them/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Crime" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/crime-brings-together-honest-men-and-concentrates-them/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b0/emile-durkheim-7413_crime_crime-brings-together-honest-men-and-con_921360.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b0/emile-durkheim-7413_crime_crime-brings-together-honest-men-and-con_921360.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b0/emile-durkheim-7413_crime_crime-brings-together-honest-men-and-con_921360.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Crime brings together honest men and concentrates them.” — Émile Durkheim", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Émile Durkheim", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Crime brings together honest men and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/crime-brings-together-honest-men-and-concentrates-them/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/crime-brings-together-honest-men-and-concentrates-them/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```