--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What I call middle-class society is any…" description: "\"What I call middle-class society is any society that becomes rigidified in predetermined forms, forbidding all evolution, all gains, all progress, all ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd5/frantz-fanon-3566_air_what-i-call-middle-class-society-is-any_2430777.jpg" --- # What I call middle-class society is any society that… ![“What I call middle-class society is any society that becomes rigidified in predetermined forms, forbidding all evolution, all gains, all progress, all discovery. I call middle-class a closed society in which life has no taste, in which the air is tainted, in which ideas and men are corrupt. And I…” quote by Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd5/frantz-fanon-3566_air_what-i-call-middle-class-society-is-any_2430777.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd5/frantz-fanon-3566_air_what-i-call-middle-class-society-is-any_2430777.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd5/frantz-fanon-3566_air_what-i-call-middle-class-society-is-any_2430777.jpg) > “What I call middle-class society is any society that becomes rigidified in predetermined forms, forbidding all evolution, all gains, all progress, all discovery. I call middle-class a closed society in which life has no taste, in which the air is tainted, in which ideas and men are corrupt. And I think that a man who takes a stand against this death is in a sense a revolutionary.” [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A rigid, middle‑class society stifles change, progress, and authentic life, making any resistance revolutionary. **In simple terms:** Middle‑class rigidity kills growth; rebellion is revolutionary. Key Takeaway Challenge the status quo. Themes social stratification stagnation revolution authenticity Mood critical defiant inspirational Type philosophical political When to use this quote - political activism - community organizing - cultural critique - education reform Key Concepts critical theory social dynamics political philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of your community feel rigid? - How can individuals foster authentic change? A Different Perspective Resistance may be suppressed by entrenched power structures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/class/) [Discovery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovery/) [Evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolution/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Inequality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inequality/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Middle class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-class/) [Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress/) [Revolutionary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolutionary/) [Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [What I hope is that those with the knowledge of the humanities break into the closed society where code gets written: invade it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-ullman/what-i-hope-is-that-those-with-the-knowledge-of-the-humanities-break/) [Ellen Ullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-ullman/) > [Sport is something that cannot be rejected even in a closed society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-inoki/sport-is-something-that-cannot-be-rejected-even-in-a-closed-society/) [Antonio Inoki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-inoki/) > [“It is the sexual frenzy of a closed society, and the women of Golpitha are the gutters for these men's emissions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suketu-mehta/it-is-the-sexual-frenzy-of-a-closed-society-and-the-women-of-golpitha/) [Suketu Mehta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suketu-mehta/) > [“they were a closed society, not ready even for a biological intruder”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pye/they-were-a-closed-society-not-ready-even-for-a-biological-intruder/) [Michael Pye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pye/) > [American long for a closed society in which everything can be bought, where laborers are either hidden away or dressed up as nonhumans, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/american-long-for-a-closed-society-in-which-everything-can-be-bought/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [The whole of mankind is one and only one, one race, one class and one society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/the-whole-of-mankind-is-one-and-only-one-one-race-one-class-and-one/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [These interests of the workers, as the exploited and oppressed, class of society, are the same in all countries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clara-zetkin/these-interests-of-the-workers-as-the-exploited-and-oppressed-class/) [Clara Zetkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clara-zetkin/) > [“the term “middle class” concealed a fact long true about this country, that, as Richard Hofstadter said: “It was . . . a middle-class…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/the-term-middle-class-concealed-a-fact-long-true-about-this-country/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [“Arrogance isn't limited to any particular class in society. It has a tendency to creep up on you when you have more than you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupali-rajopadhye-rotti/arrogance-isn-t-limited-to-any-particular-class-in-society-it-has-a/) [Rupali Rajopadhye Rotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupali-rajopadhye-rotti/) > [We are social animals and we have a hierarachical and unequal society. It is a class society, and the class system creates and perpetuates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juliet-b-schor/we-are-social-animals-and-we-have-a-hierarachical-and-unequal-society/) Juliet B. Schor > [The class of citizens who provide at once their own food and their own raiment, may be viewed as the most truly independent and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/the-class-of-citizens-who-provide-at-once-their-own-food-and-their-2/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [“Ideas about the withering away of the family found strong parallels in the political commitment to the withering away of law. The great majority…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-z-goldman/ideas-about-the-withering-away-of-the-family-found-strong-parallels/) Wendy Z. Goldman > [If we want to have a two-class society and an unemployed, welfare-crippled lower class that has no access to equality and educational opportunity and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/if-we-want-to-have-a-two-class-society-and-an-unemployed-welfare/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [In class society everyone lives as a member of a particular class, and every kind of thinking, without exception, is stamped with the brand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/in-class-society-everyone-lives-as-a-member-of-a-particular-class-and/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [It is one of the serious evils of our present system of banking , that it enables one class of society - and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-jackson/it-is-one-of-the-serious-evils-of-our-present-system-of-banking-that/) [Andrew Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-jackson/) ## More by Frantz Fanon > [The unpreparedness of the educated classes, the lack of practical links between them and the mass of the people, their laziness, and, let it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/the-unpreparedness-of-the-educated-classes-the-lack-of-practical/) [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) > [“The passion with which native intellectuals defend the existence of their national culture may be a source of amazement; but those who condemn this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/the-passion-with-which-native-intellectuals-defend-the-existence-of/) [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) > [One avoids Creolisms. Some families completely forbid Creole and mothers ridicule their children for speaking it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/one-avoids-creolisms-some-families-completely-forbid-creole-and/) [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) > [Hate demands existence, and he who hates has to show his hate in appropriate actions and behaviors; in a sense, he has to become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/hate-demands-existence-and-he-who-hates-has-to-show-his-hate-in/) [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) > [Fervor is the weapon of choice for the impotent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/fervor-is-the-weapon-of-choice-for-the-impotent/) [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) > [Capitalist exploitation and cartels and monopolies are the enemies of underdeveloped countries. On the other hand a regime which is completely oriented towards the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/capitalist-exploitation-and-cartels-and-monopolies-are-the-enemies-of/) [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) > [The living expression of the nation is the collective consciousness in motion of the entire people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/the-living-expression-of-the-nation-is-the-collective-consciousness/) [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) > [“The claim to a national culture in the past does not only rehabilitate that nation and serve as a justification for the hope of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/the-claim-to-a-national-culture-in-the-past-does-not-only/) [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) > [The business of obscuring language is a mask behind which stands the much bigger business of plunder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/the-business-of-obscuring-language-is-a-mask-behind-which-stands-the/) [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) > [Get used to me, I am not getting used to anyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/get-used-to-me-i-am-not-getting-used-to-anyone/) [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) > [“To speak pidgin to a Negro makes him angry, because he himself is a pidgin-nigger-talker. But, I will be told, there is no wish,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/to-speak-pidgin-to-a-negro-makes-him-angry-because-he-himself-is-a/) [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) > [“Nor will we acquiesce in the help for underdeveloped countries being a program of “sisters of charity.” This help should be the ratification of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/nor-will-we-acquiesce-in-the-help-for-underdeveloped-countries-being/) [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) > [The oppressed will always believe the worst about themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/the-oppressed-will-always-believe-the-worst-about-themselves/) [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) > [“Everything can be explained to the people, on the single condition that you really want them to understand.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/everything-can-be-explained-to-the-people-on-the-single-condition/) [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) > [For the beloved should not allow me to turn my infantile fantasies into reality: On the contrary, he should help me to go beyond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/for-the-beloved-should-not-allow-me-to-turn-my-infantile-fantasies/) [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) [Explore all 113 Frantz Fanon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) ## More Air quotes > [I will be a tireless advocate for our District's defense priorities including Sheppard Air Force Base, Pantex, Bell Helicopter, universities conducting important research, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronny-jackson/i-will-be-a-tireless-advocate-for-our-district-s-defense-priorities/) [Ronny Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronny-jackson/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [If U.S. air, naval, missile, and ground forces were not in and around Korea, and if we were not treaty-bound to fight alongside South…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/if-u-s-air-naval-missile-and-ground-forces-were-not-in-and-around/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [The cooler days have brought a wistful mood upon him. The smell of coalsmoke in the air at night. Old times, dead years. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-cooler-days-have-brought-a-wistful-mood-upon-him-the-smell-of/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [It's easy to say, let's go in and get the bad guys. But you have a divided country of Sunnis and Shias. The United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tulsi-gabbard/it-s-easy-to-say-let-s-go-in-and-get-the-bad-guys-but-you-have-a/) [Tulsi Gabbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tulsi-gabbard/) > [I'm a candle flame that sways in currents of air you can't see. You need to be the one who steadies me to burn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/i-m-a-candle-flame-that-sways-in-currents-of-air-you-can-t-see-you/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [It is sometimes said that scientists are unromantic, that their passion to figure out robs the world of beauty and mystery. But is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/it-is-sometimes-said-that-scientists-are-unromantic-that-their/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [ Just between you and me, shouldn’t the World Bank be encouraging MORE migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs \[Less Developed Countries\]?... I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-summers/just-between-you-and-me-shouldn-t-the-world-bank-be-encouraging-more/) [Lawrence Summers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-summers/) > [After a few mouthfuls of moon-flavored air, even the stubbornly drowsy can find themselves wide-eyed.. All the normal noises of life were gone, leaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-d-wilson/after-a-few-mouthfuls-of-moon-flavored-air-even-the-stubbornly-drowsy/) [N.D. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-d-wilson/) > [There was a little nook on Air Force Two that contained the vice presidential seal, and I would sort of wedge myself in there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-biden/there-was-a-little-nook-on-air-force-two-that-contained-the-vice/) [Jill Biden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-biden/) > [Words are substance strange. Speak one and the air ripples into another's ears. Write one and the eye laps it up. But the sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-beachy-quick/words-are-substance-strange-speak-one-and-the-air-ripples-into/) [Dan Beachy-Quick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-beachy-quick/) > [ \[A\]s you partake of the world's bill of fare, that's darned good advice to follow. Do a lot of spitting out the hot air.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/a-s-you-partake-of-the-world-s-bill-of-fare-that-s-darned-good-advice/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [...As the disparity between the rich and the poor grows, the fight to corner resources is intensifying. To push through their "sweetheart deals," to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/as-the-disparity-between-the-rich-and-the-poor-grows-the-fight-to/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [Washington bureaucrats have classified the very air we exhale as a pollutant and have gone unchallenged in this incredible assertion. The logical consequence is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/washington-bureaucrats-have-classified-the-very-air-we-exhale-as-a/) [Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/) > [“It is unnatural to fear something natural.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/it-is-unnatural-to-fear-something-natural/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) Browse all 6,278 Air quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What I call middle-class society is any society that becomes rigidified in predetermined forms, forbidding all evolution, all gains, all progress, all discovery. I call middle-class a closed society in which life has no taste, in which the air is tainted, in which ideas and men are corrupt. And I think that a man who takes a stand against this death is in a sense a revolutionary.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Frantz Fanon" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/what-i-call-middle-class-society-is-any-society-that-becomes/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Air" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/what-i-call-middle-class-society-is-any-society-that-becomes/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd5/frantz-fanon-3566_air_what-i-call-middle-class-society-is-any_2430777.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd5/frantz-fanon-3566_air_what-i-call-middle-class-society-is-any_2430777.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd5/frantz-fanon-3566_air_what-i-call-middle-class-society-is-any_2430777.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What I call middle-class society is any society that becomes rigidified in predetermined forms, forbidding…” — Frantz Fanon", "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": "Frantz Fanon", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What I call middle-class society is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/what-i-call-middle-class-society-is-any-society-that-becomes/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/what-i-call-middle-class-society-is-any-society-that-becomes/#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 } } ] } ```