Article image

12 Quotes on What Makes a Society Strong

When the internet was first created, it was predicted to bring people around the world closer together than ever before. But as we now know, technological innovations such as the internet have proven to be an inadequate substitution for in-person interaction, and contrary to those initial predictions, our society often seems to feel more fractured and disconnected than ever.

In fact, the U.S. surgeon general released a 2023 advisory regarding the “healing effects of social connection and community” in response to “our epidemic of loneliness and isolation.”

In many ways, it does feel as if our connections to each other are uniquely fraught. We may complain about our neighbors on Facebook groups and Nextdoor more often than we knock on their doors to offer our friendship, and generational divides have begun to seem more like chasms than gaps.

We have to remind ourselves that a strong society starts with us. If we want a solid community, we have to act accordingly. Each of us has the power to replace the suspicion, blame, and judgment we may be guilty of hurling at our (literal and figurative) neighbors with a warm remark or a helping hand, and we don’t need to wait to make those changes.

We all deserve to live in a supportive, compassionate world. Here are 12 quotes about how we can build just that.

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.
Greek proverb

Share Quote

There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children.
Nelson Mandela

Share Quote

We must be willing, individually and as a nation, to accept whatever sacrifices may be required of us. A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

Share Quote

All that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for development accorded to the individual.
Albert Einstein

Share Quote

There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.
Meg Wheatley

Share Quote

What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness is cured.
Kurt Vonnegut

Share Quote

The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.
Coretta Scott King

Share Quote

The society which scorns excellence in plumbing as a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy: neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.
John W. Gardner

Share Quote

Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.
Helen Keller

Share Quote

The first sign of corruption in a society that is still alive is that the end justifies the means.
Georges Bernanos

Share Quote

I know there is strength / In the differences between us / And I know there is comfort / Where we overlap.
Ani DiFranco

Share Quote

When we listen with less judgment, we always develop better relationships with each other. It’s not differences that divide us. It’s our judgments about each other that do. Curiosity and good listening bring us back together.
Meg Wheatley

Share Quote

Featured image credit: Media24/Gallo Images/ Hulton Archive via Getty Images

Author image
About the Author
Brooke Robinson
Inspiring Quotes editor, bibliophile, cinephile, and curry enthusiast based in Cleveland, Ohio.
Play more header background
Play more icon
Daily Question
Fill in the blank: "The struggle, like life itself, should be ___." - Miriam Miranda

More Inspiration

happiness theme icon

We turn not older with years, but newer every day.

separator icon
Emily Dickinson
motivation theme icon

I was smart enough to go through any door that opened.

separator icon
Joan Rivers
hope theme icon

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.

separator icon
Thomas Edison
love theme icon

Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.

separator icon
Brené Brown
wisdom theme icon

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.

separator icon
Oscar Wilde
happiness theme icon

Happiness is not made by what we own. It is what we share.

separator icon
Jonathan Sacks
motivation theme icon

Vulnerability is important. You can’t let your skin get too thick.

separator icon
Al Pacino
hope theme icon

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.

separator icon
Andy Warhol
love theme icon

A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something.

separator icon
Frank Capra
wisdom theme icon

I believe that the privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.

separator icon
Viola Davis
happiness theme icon

You don't meet the people you love, you recognize them.

separator icon
Anna Gavalda