--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We do not condemn it because it is a…" description: "\"We do not condemn it because it is a crime, but it is a crime because we condemn it.\" — Emile Durkheim" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a05/emile-durkheim-7413_crime_we-do-not-condemn-it-because-it-is-a-cri_1261172.jpg" --- # We do not condemn it because it is a crime, but it is a… ![“We do not condemn it because it is a crime, but it is a crime because we condemn it.” quote by Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a05/emile-durkheim-7413_crime_we-do-not-condemn-it-because-it-is-a-cri_1261172.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a05/emile-durkheim-7413_crime_we-do-not-condemn-it-because-it-is-a-cri_1261172.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a05/emile-durkheim-7413_crime_we-do-not-condemn-it-because-it-is-a-cri_1261172.jpg) > “We do not condemn it because it is a crime, but it is a crime because we condemn it.” [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. Societal norms define crimes; condemnation creates the crime, not the act itself. **In simple terms:** Society decides what is criminal. Key Takeaway Beware how labeling creates problems. Themes social norms crime morality Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical sociological When to use this quote - legal debates - media narratives - public policy - education - activism Key Concepts labeling theory social construction Questions to Reflect On - How does labeling affect perception of wrongdoing? - Can we separate act from judgment? A Different Perspective Labels can be misused to suppress dissent. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crime/) ## Related quotes > [Those who most condemn the crime are the most likely to commit it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-fowler/those-who-most-condemn-the-crime-are-the-most-likely-to-commit-it/) [Steve Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-fowler/) > [To pursue a goal which is by definition unattainable is to condemn oneself to a state of perpetual unhappiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/to-pursue-a-goal-which-is-by-definition-unattainable-is-to-condemn/) [Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) > [A crime is a crime, regardless of what collar you wear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ventura/a-crime-is-a-crime-regardless-of-what-collar-you-wear/) [Jesse Ventura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ventura/) > [We are not prepared to consider special category status for certain groups of people serving sentences for crime. Crime is crime is crime, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/we-are-not-prepared-to-consider-special-category-status-for-certain/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [suicide is a crime - the only crime that, if successful, guarantees that the perpetrator will not be punished for it. This makes it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-greenberg/suicide-is-a-crime-the-only-crime-that-if-successful-guarantees-that/) [Joanne Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanne-greenberg/) > [ I've been in crime for a long time and I know that the actual move isn't the actual crime: the crime continues \[afterwards\]. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ice-t/i-ve-been-in-crime-for-a-long-time-and-i-know-that-the-actual-move/) [Ice T](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ice-t/) > [“The more we tolerate crime, the more crime we will have.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-oliver/the-more-we-tolerate-crime-the-more-crime-we-will-have/) [David Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-oliver/) > [Failure is not a crime. The crime is not trying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-dellums/failure-is-not-a-crime-the-crime-is-not-trying/) [Ron Dellums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-dellums/) > [Crime to many is not crime but simply a way of life. If laws are inconvenient, ignore them, they don't apply to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-francis/crime-to-many-is-not-crime-but-simply-a-way-of-life-if-laws-are/) [Dick Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-francis/) > [What clever man has ever needed to commit a crime? Crime is the last resort of political half-wits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-maurice-de-talleyrand/what-clever-man-has-ever-needed-to-commit-a-crime-crime-is-the-last/) [Charles Maurice de Talleyrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-maurice-de-talleyrand/) > [The number of laws is constantly growing in all countries and, owing to this, what is called crime is very often not a crime…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-ouspensky/the-number-of-laws-is-constantly-growing-in-all-countries-and-owing/) [P.D. Ouspensky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-ouspensky/) > [The fool's crime is the crime that is found out and the wise man's crime is the crime that is not found out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilkie-collins/the-fool-s-crime-is-the-crime-that-is-found-out-and-the-wise-man-s/) [Wilkie Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilkie-collins/) > [Once I've done a crime, I just forget it. I go from crime to crime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-lee-lucas/once-i-ve-done-a-crime-i-just-forget-it-i-go-from-crime-to-crime/) Henry Lee Lucas > [A crime which is the crime of many none avenge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucan/a-crime-which-is-the-crime-of-many-none-avenge/) [Lucan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucan/) > [A crime is a crime irrespective of the birth marks of the criminal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/a-crime-is-a-crime-irrespective-of-the-birth-marks-of-the-criminal/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) ## 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 Condemn quotes > [If you condemn someone who has committed a crime to be tortured, that would be unconstitutional.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonin-scalia/if-you-condemn-someone-who-has-committed-a-crime-to-be-tortured-that/) [Antonin Scalia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonin-scalia/) > [“Going to the extreme of inviting and welcoming people into your church in order to hear you condemn them or to know from your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-engela/going-to-the-extreme-of-inviting-and-welcoming-people-into-your/) [Christina Engela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-engela/) > [When there is injustice, dare to be the first to condemn it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-there-is-injustice-dare-to-be-the-first-to-condemn-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Fix, commit, condemn yourself”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/fix-commit-condemn-yourself/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [...The people love him. So how can we condemn him?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-zuma/the-people-love-him-so-how-can-we-condemn-him/) [Jacob Zuma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-zuma/) > [It is rash to condemn where you are ignorant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/it-is-rash-to-condemn-where-you-are-ignorant/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [You'll hunt me. You'll condemn me. Set the dogs on me. Because that's what needs to happen. Because sometimes truth isn't good enough. Sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-bale/you-ll-hunt-me-you-ll-condemn-me-set-the-dogs-on-me-because-that-s/) [Christian Bale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-bale/) > [Many governments are quick to condemn Assad, but a dwindling number of them would celebrate a rebel victory in Damascus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-engel/many-governments-are-quick-to-condemn-assad-but-a-dwindling-number-of/) [Richard Engel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-engel/) > [I condemn all statements - made in sincerity or jest - that threaten or suggest the use of violence against the president of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-broun/i-condemn-all-statements-made-in-sincerity-or-jest-that-threaten-or/) [Paul Broun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-broun/) > [The wretch condemn'd with life to part, Still, still on hope relies; And every pang that rends the heart Bids expectation rise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-goldsmith/the-wretch-condemn-d-with-life-to-part-still-still-on-hope-relies-and/) [Oliver Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-goldsmith/) > [We like to think the best of ourselves. We like to believe we always say and do the right things. We like to believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/we-like-to-think-the-best-of-ourselves-we-like-to-believe-we-always/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [Condemn me, it does not matter: history will absolve me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fidel-castro/condemn-me-it-does-not-matter-history-will-absolve-me/) [Fidel Castro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fidel-castro/) > [“Lewis Richardson wrote that his quest to analyze peace with numbers sprang from two prejudices. As a Quaker, he believed that "the moral evil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/lewis-richardson-wrote-that-his-quest-to-analyze-peace-with-numbers/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [“this other man within us, has got to be handled. Do not listen to him; turn on him; speak to him; condemn him; upbraid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-martyn-lloyd-jones/this-other-man-within-us-has-got-to-be-handled-do-not-listen-to-him/) [D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-martyn-lloyd-jones/) > [The U.N. Security Council did not to condemn the Qana massacre, due to the U.S. veto.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hassan-nasrallah/the-u-n-security-council-did-not-to-condemn-the-qana-massacre-due-to/) [Hassan Nasrallah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hassan-nasrallah/) Browse all 185 Condemn quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We do not condemn it because it is a crime, but it is a crime because we condemn it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Emile Durkheim" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/we-do-not-condemn-it-because-it-is-a-crime-but-it-is-a-crime-because/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Condemn" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/we-do-not-condemn-it-because-it-is-a-crime-but-it-is-a-crime-because/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a05/emile-durkheim-7413_crime_we-do-not-condemn-it-because-it-is-a-cri_1261172.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a05/emile-durkheim-7413_crime_we-do-not-condemn-it-because-it-is-a-cri_1261172.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a05/emile-durkheim-7413_crime_we-do-not-condemn-it-because-it-is-a-cri_1261172.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We do not condemn it because it is a crime, but it is a crime because we condemn it.” — 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": "We do not condemn it because...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/we-do-not-condemn-it-because-it-is-a-crime-but-it-is-a-crime-because/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/we-do-not-condemn-it-because-it-is-a-crime-but-it-is-a-crime-because/#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 } } ] } ```