---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Such words as \"society\" and \"community\"…"
description: "\"Such words as \"society\" and \"community\" are likely to be misleading, for they have a tendency to make us think there is a single thing corresponding to..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36b/john-dewey-545_community_such-words-as-society-and-community-are_1027677.png"
---

#  Such words as "society" and "community" are likely to be…

![“Such words as &quot;society&quot; and &quot;community&quot; are likely to be misleading, for they have a tendency to make us think there is a single thing corresponding to the single word.” quote by John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36b/john-dewey-545_community_such-words-as-society-and-community-are_1027677.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36b/john-dewey-545_community_such-words-as-society-and-community-are_1027677.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36b/john-dewey-545_community_such-words-as-society-and-community-are_1027677.png)

> “Such words as "society" and "community" are likely to be misleading, for they have a tendency to make us think there is a single thing corresponding to the single word.”

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

He warns that terms like “society” and “community” can oversimplify complex realities.

**In simple terms:** Words can mislead by suggesting single entities.

Key Takeaway

Question assumptions about collective terms.

Themes

philosophy language society

Mood

critical thoughtful

Type

analytical philosophical

When to use this quote

- policy analysis
- community planning
- academic research

Key Concepts

semantics social theory

Questions to Reflect On

- What hidden complexities do such words mask?
- How can we talk about groups more accurately?

A Different Perspective

These labels may ignore diversity within groups.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) [Community Likely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community-likely-296926/) [Corresponding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corresponding/) [Likely Misleading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/likely-misleading-2329283/) [Mislead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mislead/) [Misleading Tendency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misleading-tendency-2329282/) [Single word](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/single-word/) [Society Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society-community-1315132/) [Tendencies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tendencies/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Words Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words-society-2329284/)

## Related quotes

> [“A big society is a society for the promotion of narrowness. It is a machinery for the purpose of guarding the solitary and sensitive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/a-big-society-is-a-society-for-the-promotion-of-narrowness-it-is-a/)

[G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/)

> [“I would have been trying to pitch a concept about my community to someone that most likely was not a part of that community.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lamar-tyler/i-would-have-been-trying-to-pitch-a-concept-about-my-community-to/)

[Lamar Tyler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lamar-tyler/)

> [A community is not likely to be overthrown where woman fulfills her mission, for by the power of her noble heart, she will raise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-angell-james/a-community-is-not-likely-to-be-overthrown-where-woman-fulfills-her/)

[John Angell James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-angell-james/)

> [Love is a secret society, a community for two.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melvin-burgess/love-is-a-secret-society-a-community-for-two/)

[Melvin Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melvin-burgess/)

> [Our society is not a community, but merely a collection of isolated family units.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valerie-solanas/our-society-is-not-a-community-but-merely-a-collection-of-isolated-2/)

[Valerie Solanas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valerie-solanas/)

> [“Society, community, family are all conserving institutions. They try to maintain stability and to prevent, or at least slow down, change. But the organization…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-f-drucker/society-community-family-are-all-conserving-institutions-they-try-to-2/)

[Peter F. Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-f-drucker/)

> [Society, community, family are all conserving institutions. They try to maintain stability, and to prevent, or at least to slow down, change. But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/society-community-family-are-all-conserving-institutions-they-try-to/)

[Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/)

> [What freemanery actually is - it is not being a freeloader, it is not saying I do not want to be a contributing member…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-menard/what-freemanery-actually-is-it-is-not-being-a-freeloader-it-is-not/)

[Robert Menard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-menard/)

> [No nation, no society, no community can hold its head high and claim to be part of the civilized world if it condones the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manmohan-singh/no-nation-no-society-no-community-can-hold-its-head-high-and-claim-to/)

[Manmohan Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manmohan-singh/)

> [Sin is one thing but instinctive reaction or passion is another. These are our reactions: pride, anger, sexual indulgence, hate, greed, and so on.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorotheus-of-gaza/sin-is-one-thing-but-instinctive-reaction-or-passion-is-another-these/)

[Dorotheus of Gaza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorotheus-of-gaza/)

> [So now that the illusion of infinite growth is being exposed, the corresponding ballooning entitlements that enticed the larger public to become complicit in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-hugh-smith/so-now-that-the-illusion-of-infinite-growth-is-being-exposed-the/)

[Charles Hugh Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-hugh-smith/)

> [How could a readiness for war in time of peace be safely prohibited, unless we could prohibit, in like manner, the preparations and establishments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/how-could-a-readiness-for-war-in-time-of-peace-be-safely-prohibited/)

[James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/)

> [I think that to transfuse emotion - not to transmit thought but to set up in the reader's sense a vibration corresponding to what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-housman/i-think-that-to-transfuse-emotion-not-to-transmit-thought-but-to-set/)

[A. E. Housman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-housman/)

> [...it was a huge creature, luminous, ghastly, and spectral. I have cross-examined these men, one of them a hard-headed countryman, one a farrier, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/it-was-a-huge-creature-luminous-ghastly-and-spectral-i-have-cross/)

[Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/)

> [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

## More by John Dewey

> [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [“Empirically, things are poignant, tragic, beautiful, humorous, settled, disturbed, comfortable, annoying, barren, harsh, consoling, splendid, fearful; are such immediately and in their own right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/empirically-things-are-poignant-tragic-beautiful-humorous-settled/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [A good aim surveys the present state of experience of pupils, and forming a tentative plan of treatment, keeps the plan constantly in view…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/a-good-aim-surveys-the-present-state-of-experience-of-pupils-and/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [Experiences in order to be educative must lead out into an expanding world of subject matter, a subject matter of facts or information and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/experiences-in-order-to-be-educative-must-lead-out-into-an-expanding/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [A tribe, let us say, is warlike. The successes for which it strives, the achievements upon which it sets store, are connected with fighting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/a-tribe-let-us-say-is-warlike-the-successes-for-which-it-strives-the/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [The phrase "think for one's self" is a pleonasm. Unless one does it for one's self, it isn't thinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-phrase-think-for-one-s-self-is-a-pleonasm-unless-one-does-it-for/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [Doctrine that eliminates or even obscures the function of choice of values and enlistment of desires and emotions in behalf of those chosen weakens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/doctrine-that-eliminates-or-even-obscures-the-function-of-choice-of/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [There is no such thing as educational value in the abstract. The notion that some subjects and methods and that acquaintance with certain facts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/there-is-no-such-thing-as-educational-value-in-the-abstract-the/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [Men live in a community in virtue of the things which they have in common; and communication is the way in which they come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/men-live-in-a-community-in-virtue-of-the-things-which-they-have-in/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [We can have facts without thinking but we cannot have thinking without facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/we-can-have-facts-without-thinking-but-we-cannot-have-thinking/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [But progress in knowledge has made us aware of the superficiality of Plato's lumping of individuals and their original powers into a few sharply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/but-progress-in-knowledge-has-made-us-aware-of-the-superficiality-of/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [Even the alleged benefits of war, so far as more than alleged, spring from the fact that conflict of peoples at least enforces intercourse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/even-the-alleged-benefits-of-war-so-far-as-more-than-alleged-spring/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [“When the organization called soul is free, moving and operative, initial as well as terminal, it is spirit. Qualities are both static, substantial, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/when-the-organization-called-soul-is-free-moving-and-operative/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [Since in reality there is nothing to which growth is relative save more growth, there is nothing to which education is subordinate save more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/since-in-reality-there-is-nothing-to-which-growth-is-relative-save/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [Creative thinking will improve as we relate the new fact to the old and all facts to each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/creative-thinking-will-improve-as-we-relate-the-new-fact-to-the-old/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

[Explore all 486 John Dewey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

## More Community quotes

> [Race is the idea that a human being is more superior than another human being, race in society grants illusional rights to mistreat each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-limn/race-is-the-idea-that-a-human-being-is-more-superior-than-another/)

[Jeremy Limn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-limn/)

> [But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-sarabhai/but-we-are-convinced-that-if-we-are-to-play-a-meaningful-role/)

[Vikram Sarabhai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-sarabhai/)

> [In the hearing world, I'm constantly having to lip-read and trying to understand what's going on. Sign language is so beautiful. It gives you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-ayling-ellis/in-the-hearing-world-i-m-constantly-having-to-lip-read-and-trying-to/)

[Rose Ayling-Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-ayling-ellis/)

> [The strains and stresses suffered by the individual in society are grounded in the normal functioning of that society (and of the individual!) rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/the-strains-and-stresses-suffered-by-the-individual-in-society-are/)

[Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/)

> [Hackney gets a bit of a bad rap, but it's the only place I've ever lived that felt like a community. I know my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-horgan/hackney-gets-a-bit-of-a-bad-rap-but-it-s-the-only-place-i-ve-ever/)

[Sharon Horgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-horgan/)

> [ The social \[media channel\] isn't about beauty contests and popularity contests. They're a distortion, a caricature of the real thing. It's about trust, connection,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umair-haque/the-social-media-channel-isn-t-about-beauty-contests-and-popularity/)

[Umair Haque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umair-haque/)

> [We're at a point in history were we have to become a part of the neighborhood of inhabited planets, like a neighborhood of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/we-re-at-a-point-in-history-were-we-have-to-become-a-part-of-the/)

[Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/)

> [I have to feel the audience. I enjoy that feeling of community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-gahan/i-have-to-feel-the-audience-i-enjoy-that-feeling-of-community/)

[Dave Gahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-gahan/)

> [It rolls off my back. Ridicule doesn't mean anything - even from people you're supposed to wear knee pads around, like the scientific community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-schultz/it-rolls-off-my-back-ridicule-doesn-t-mean-anything-even-from-people/)

[Dwight Schultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-schultz/)

> [Jeff Chu's pilgrimage across America to discover his own place as a gay man in the Christian church as well as attitudes about being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-freitas/jeff-chu-s-pilgrimage-across-america-to-discover-his-own-place-as-a/)

[Donna Freitas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-freitas/)

> [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [Human life consists of doing certain things ... to take part in the life of the community; to be able to talk about subjects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/human-life-consists-of-doing-certain-things-to-take-part-in-the-life/)

[Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/)

> [Parents who are stressed or disturbed will have more difficulty in meeting their children's needs. Parents who have little support--from friends, relatives, neighbors, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-kamerman/parents-who-are-stressed-or-disturbed-will-have-more-difficulty-in/)

[Sheila Kamerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-kamerman/)

> [I think what was special about 'Music by Prudence' was the classic story of the title subject's life path - from being an outcast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-think-what-was-special-about-music-by-prudence-was-the-classic/)

[Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/)

> [Perhaps the greatest and least visible form of impoverishment caused by the Corporate State is the destruction of community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-a-reich/perhaps-the-greatest-and-least-visible-form-of-impoverishment-caused/)

[Charles A. Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-a-reich/)

[Browse all 13,840 Community quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Such words as \"society\" and \"community\" are likely to be misleading, for they have a tendency to make us think there is a single thing corresponding to the single word.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "John Dewey"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/such-words-as-society-and-community-are-likely-to-be-misleading-for/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Community"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/such-words-as-society-and-community-are-likely-to-be-misleading-for/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36b/john-dewey-545_community_such-words-as-society-and-community-are_1027677.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36b/john-dewey-545_community_such-words-as-society-and-community-are_1027677.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36b/john-dewey-545_community_such-words-as-society-and-community-are_1027677.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Such words as \"society\" and \"community\" are likely to be misleading, for they have a tendency to make us…” — John Dewey",
                "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": "John Dewey",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Such words as \"society\" and \"community\"...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/such-words-as-society-and-community-are-likely-to-be-misleading-for/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/such-words-as-society-and-community-are-likely-to-be-misleading-for/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
