--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our whole social environment seems to us…" description: "\"Our whole social environment seems to us to be filled with forces which really exist only in our own minds.\" — Emile Durkheim" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/858/emile-durkheim-7413_environment_our-whole-social-environment-seems-to-us_2014858.jpg" --- # Our whole social environment seems to us to be filled with… ![“Our whole social environment seems to us to be filled with forces which really exist only in our own minds.” quote by Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/858/emile-durkheim-7413_environment_our-whole-social-environment-seems-to-us_2014858.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/858/emile-durkheim-7413_environment_our-whole-social-environment-seems-to-us_2014858.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/858/emile-durkheim-7413_environment_our-whole-social-environment-seems-to-us_2014858.jpg) > “Our whole social environment seems to us to be filled with forces which really exist only in our own minds.” [Emile 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. Our perception of social forces is shaped by collective belief, not only by objective reality. **In simple terms:** Society exists largely in our minds. Key Takeaway Recognize the power of shared beliefs. Themes sociology perception collective consciousness Mood analytical thoughtful Type sociological philosophical When to use this quote - political discourse - media analysis - community building Key Concepts social constructionism mindset Questions to Reflect On - What social forces are imagined versus real? - How do shared beliefs influence behavior? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environment/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Social environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-environment/) ## Related quotes > [The walls between art and engineering exist only in our minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theo-jansen/the-walls-between-art-and-engineering-exist-only-in-our-minds/) [Theo Jansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theo-jansen/) > [There is only eternity. That's our real body. The stars are our blanket. Time doesn't even exist, except in our own minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/there-is-only-eternity-that-s-our-real-body-the-stars-are-our-blanket/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“Funny, thinks Milton. Power, time, gravity, love. The forces that really kick ass are all invisible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/funny-thinks-milton-power-time-gravity-love-the-forces-that-really/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [Power, time, gravity, love. The forces that really kick ass are all invisible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/power-time-gravity-love-the-forces-that-really-kick-ass-are-all/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [Free will does really exist or we are moved by impulses?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g/free-will-does-really-exist-or-we-are-moved-by-impulses/) G > [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/) > [After I go out this door, I may only exist in the minds of all my acquaintances…I may be an orange peel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/after-i-go-out-this-door-i-may-only-exist-in-the-minds-of-all-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Our handicaps exist only in our minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt/our-handicaps-exist-only-in-our-minds/) [Franklin D. Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/) > [Borders I have never seen one. But I have heard they exist in the minds of some people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/borders-i-have-never-seen-one-but-i-have-heard-they-exist-in-the/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) > [You exist in the minds of other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshuah-bearman/you-exist-in-the-minds-of-other-people/) [Joshuah Bearman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshuah-bearman/) > [Contemporary philosophers have exercised themselves with the problem of our knowledge of other minds. Enmeshed in the dogma of the ghost in the machine,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-ryle/contemporary-philosophers-have-exercised-themselves-with-the-problem/) [Gilbert Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-ryle/) > [We should remember that science exists only because there are people, and its concepts exist only in the minds of men. Behind these concepts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wernher-von-braun/we-should-remember-that-science-exists-only-because-there-are-people/) [Wernher von Braun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wernher-von-braun/) > [The Rubicons which women must cross, the sex barriers which they must breach, are ultimately those that exist in their own minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freda-adler/the-rubicons-which-women-must-cross-the-sex-barriers-which-they-must/) [Freda Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freda-adler/) > [Ideas exist in our minds that can be accounted for by no established laws.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-brockden-brown/ideas-exist-in-our-minds-that-can-be-accounted-for-by-no-established/) [Charles Brockden Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-brockden-brown/) > [There are ideas that exist in our minds that can be accounted for by no established laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-brockden-brown/there-are-ideas-that-exist-in-our-minds-that-can-be-accounted-for-by/) [Charles Brockden Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-brockden-brown/) ## More by Emile 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 Emile Durkheim quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) ## More Environment quotes > [I feel like the future is unwritten. So many of the things that we write now haven't been about educating people on the environment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/i-feel-like-the-future-is-unwritten-so-many-of-the-things-that-we/) [John Flansburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flansburgh/) > [This welfare for wealthy companies wastes taxpayer dollars, harms the environment, and makes a mockery of the recent reductions in federal social spending programs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-nader/this-welfare-for-wealthy-companies-wastes-taxpayer-dollars-harms-the/) [Ralph Nader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-nader/) > [We must master our egoism, and through this mastery, step outside ourselves and educate ourselves in giving. Fasting requires that we rediscover all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/we-must-master-our-egoism-and-through-this-mastery-step-outside/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [Plainly, the environment must be a living one, directed by a higher intelligence, arranged by an adult who is prepared for his mission.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/plainly-the-environment-must-be-a-living-one-directed-by-a-higher/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [In the current climate, things that are true, brave human stories become political.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-blanchett/in-the-current-climate-things-that-are-true-brave-human-stories/) [Cate Blanchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-blanchett/) > [They paved paradise and put up a parkin lot With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin' hot spot Don't it always seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/they-paved-paradise-and-put-up-a-parkin-lot-with-a-pink-hotel-a/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [Life as we know it is fundamentally unsatisfying. I think most folks feel this to be true. They know that a life of aimless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-yates/life-as-we-know-it-is-fundamentally-unsatisfying-i-think-most-folks/) [Michael Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-yates/) > [To assist a child we must provide him with an environment which will enable him to develop freely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/to-assist-a-child-we-must-provide-him-with-an-environment-which-will/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [Daily life is both the subject and environment of the work I am making.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-henrot/daily-life-is-both-the-subject-and-environment-of-the-work-i-am-making/) [Camille Henrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-henrot/) > [If, as I anticipate, a wide array of personal, portable information/communication devices becomes increasingly important and widespread for information-intensive users, it will be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-peters/if-as-i-anticipate-a-wide-array-of-personal-portable-information/) [Tom Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-peters/) > [Create an environment for people to fail, to learn, and to grow. Their creativity and productivity will increase.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/create-an-environment-for-people-to-fail-to-learn-and-to-grow-their/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There are many more traits that the climate deniers share with the creationists and Holocaust deniers and others who distort the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-r-prothero/there-are-many-more-traits-that-the-climate-deniers-share-with-the/) [Donald R. Prothero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-r-prothero/) > [Assuming normal winter weather, we currently anticipate the coal markets to remain difficult through 2015; while we always strive to operate a full capacity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-craft/assuming-normal-winter-weather-we-currently-anticipate-the-coal/) [Joe Craft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-craft/) > [It's the same with this idea of a literate public, and also of a democracy in which people have access to and really read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/it-s-the-same-with-this-idea-of-a-literate-public-and-also-of-a/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [Of course, learning is strengthened and solidified when it occurs in a safe, secure and normal environment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-bertrand-aristide/of-course-learning-is-strengthened-and-solidified-when-it-occurs-in-a/) [Jean-Bertrand Aristide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-bertrand-aristide/) [Browse all 8,669 Environment quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environment/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Our whole social environment seems to us to be filled with forces which really exist only in our own minds.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Emile Durkheim" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/our-whole-social-environment-seems-to-us-to-be-filled-with-forces/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Environment" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/our-whole-social-environment-seems-to-us-to-be-filled-with-forces/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/858/emile-durkheim-7413_environment_our-whole-social-environment-seems-to-us_2014858.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/858/emile-durkheim-7413_environment_our-whole-social-environment-seems-to-us_2014858.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/858/emile-durkheim-7413_environment_our-whole-social-environment-seems-to-us_2014858.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Our whole social environment seems to us to be filled with forces which really exist only in our own minds.” — Emile 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": "Emile Durkheim", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Our whole social environment seems to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/our-whole-social-environment-seems-to-us-to-be-filled-with-forces/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/our-whole-social-environment-seems-to-us-to-be-filled-with-forces/#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 } } ] } ```