4 Quotes About Social Convention

For some, being social is a necessity. They have to engage with others to feel good about themselves and their lives. But for others, it’s a mild annoyance — something they do because they feel obligated to. If you fall into this second category, there’s no need to take it so seriously Read more

When we feel like we have to interact with people or take part in an activity just to avoid feeling bad about ourselves, we often try too hard and sound unnatural. Being social doesn’t require any effort at all. It just happens naturally when we become comfortable in our own skin and stop overthinking everything that comes our way.

When we come across these quotes, we can remind ourselves that while there may be some things we should never do while socializing, there are other things we should do — and should always do — when we’re out and about.

1
Decadence, decadence, he said to himself. They’ve lost everything and gained nothing. The French had merely daubed on the finishing touches at the end of a process which had begun five hundred years ago, at least. Their intuitive moral desires coincided with the ideals embodied in the formulas of their religion, yet they could live in accordance neither with those deepest impulses nor with the precepts of the religion, because society came in between with all the pressure of its tradition. No one could afford to be honest or generous or merciful because every one of them distrusted all the others; often they had more confidence in a Christian they were meeting for the first time than in a Moslem they had known for years. Paul Bowles
2
All social interactions require some loss of freedom. Erol Ozan
3
At the behest of the criterion of authenticity, much that was once thought to make up the very fabric of culture has come to seem of little account, mere fantasy or ritual, or downright falsification. Conversely, much that culture traditionally condemned and sought to exclude is accorded a considerable moral authority by reason of the authenticity claimed for it, for example, disorder, violence, unreason. Lionel Trilling