--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The first and most fundamental rule is…" description: "\"The first and most fundamental rule is: Consider social facts as things.\" — Emile Durkheim" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5a/emile-durkheim-7413_facts_the-first-and-most-fundamental-rule-is-c_2663407.jpg" --- # The first and most fundamental rule is: Consider social… ![“The first and most fundamental rule is: Consider social facts as things.” quote by Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5a/emile-durkheim-7413_facts_the-first-and-most-fundamental-rule-is-c_2663407.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5a/emile-durkheim-7413_facts_the-first-and-most-fundamental-rule-is-c_2663407.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5a/emile-durkheim-7413_facts_the-first-and-most-fundamental-rule-is-c_2663407.jpg) > “The first and most fundamental rule is: Consider social facts as things.” [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. Treat social phenomena as objective entities that can be studied like physical objects. **In simple terms:** View social facts as real things. Key Takeaway Analyze society scientifically. Themes sociology objectivity methodology Mood analytical critical Type academic theoretical When to use this quote - research - policy analysis - education - community planning Key Concepts social facts empiricism Questions to Reflect On - How do we balance objectivity with lived experience? - What risks arise from treating people as data? A Different Perspective May overlook subjective experiences and cultural nuance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Consider Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consider-social-1112826/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Fundamental Rule](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fundamental-rule-2447064/) [Fundamentals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fundamentals/) [Human nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-nature/) [Rule](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rule/) [Rule Consider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rule-consider-1485060/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Social Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-facts-1485059/) ## Related quotes > [The first and most basic rule is to consider social facts as things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/the-first-and-most-basic-rule-is-to-consider-social-facts-as-things/) [Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) > [The fundamental rule of the business traveller must be nothing must stop you from getting there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-quest/the-fundamental-rule-of-the-business-traveller-must-be-nothing-must/) [Richard Quest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-quest/) > [Most social acts have to be understood in their setting, and lose meaning if isolated. No error in thinking about social facts is more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon-asch/most-social-acts-have-to-be-understood-in-their-setting-and-lose-2/) [Solomon Asch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon-asch/) > [ To ignore \[the\] great social facts -- political facts, if you please -- and over-emphasize the old moral responsibility of the 'domestic' mother is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ritter-beard/to-ignore-the-great-social-facts-political-facts-if-you-please-and/) [Mary Ritter Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ritter-beard/) > [I consider myself a social justice person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-ronson/i-consider-myself-a-social-justice-person/) [Jon Ronson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-ronson/) > [I consider social skills a bit like learning a language. I've been practising it for so long over so many years I've almost lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-tammet/i-consider-social-skills-a-bit-like-learning-a-language-i-ve-been/) [Daniel Tammet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-tammet/) > [I don't consider myself a serious and social political critic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-stewart/i-don-t-consider-myself-a-serious-and-social-political-critic/) [Jon Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-stewart/) > [“Fundamental rule in your life, is to know what your deserve in life and getting what you deserve. That's winning always.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jubin-jomon/fundamental-rule-in-your-life-is-to-know-what-your-deserve-in-life/) [Jubin Jomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jubin-jomon/) > [It is a fundamental rule of human life, that if the approach is good, the response is good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jawaharlal-nehru/it-is-a-fundamental-rule-of-human-life-that-if-the-approach-is-good/) [Jawaharlal Nehru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jawaharlal-nehru/) > [Successful candidates follow a simple fundamental rule: Define yourself before your opponent can define you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-easton/successful-candidates-follow-a-simple-fundamental-rule-define/) [Nina Easton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-easton/) > [A fundamental rule in technology says that whatever can be done will be done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-grove/a-fundamental-rule-in-technology-says-that-whatever-can-be-done-will/) [Andy Grove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-grove/) > [“1776: A declaration of the Parlement of Paris: The first rule of justice is to conserve for each individual that which belongs to him.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/1776-a-declaration-of-the-parlement-of-paris-the-first-rule-of/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [The Constitution is the fundamental rule for people to live in society. If the rule no longer suits the lives of the general public…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ichiro-ozawa/the-constitution-is-the-fundamental-rule-for-people-to-live-in/) [Ichiro Ozawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ichiro-ozawa/) > [“Coincidence is the exception, not the rule.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soheir-khashoggi/coincidence-is-the-exception-not-the-rule/) [Soheir Khashoggi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soheir-khashoggi/) > [It is the rule in war, if our forces are ten to the enemy's one, to surround him; if five to one, to attack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/it-is-the-rule-in-war-if-our-forces-are-ten-to-the-enemy-s-one-to/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) ## 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 Facts quotes > [It is indeed a surprising and fortunate fact that nature can be expressed by relatively low-order mathematical functions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-carnap/it-is-indeed-a-surprising-and-fortunate-fact-that-nature-can-be/) [Rudolf Carnap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-carnap/) > [So the fool, as distinct from the scoundrel, is completely self- satisfied; in fact, he can easily become dangerous, as it does not take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/so-the-fool-as-distinct-from-the-scoundrel-is-completely-self/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [He bombarded me with words, of all things, apparently clueless to the fact that the predawn hours rendered me incapable of coherent thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darynda-jones/he-bombarded-me-with-words-of-all-things-apparently-clueless-to-the/) [Darynda Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darynda-jones/) > [Scrabble - The game is available in Braille. That’s a nice fact. This makes me feel better about humanity for some reason. I can’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/scrabble-the-game-is-available-in-braille-that-s-a-nice-fact-this/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm Fine!, the most common LIE in the world...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/punkinhead-abhishek/i-m-fine-the-most-common-lie-in-the-world/) [Punkinhead Abhishek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/punkinhead-abhishek/) > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [What is history after all? History is facts which become lies in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-is-history-after-all-history-is-facts-which-become-lies-in-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Don't take too much comfort in the fact that you're successful today because tomorrow could bring failure. There's no surety in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-savage/don-t-take-too-much-comfort-in-the-fact-that-you-re-successful-today/) [Michael Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-savage/) > [I am told many children block out the memory of trauma. In fact, the healing process can only truly begin when we are willing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phoebe-stone/i-am-told-many-children-block-out-the-memory-of-trauma-in-fact-the/) [Phoebe Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phoebe-stone/) > [Because the truth is that gossip is as good as gospel in this town. 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