David Riesman Quotes

Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns.

There are only two kinds of freedom in the world; the freedom of the rich and powerful, and the freedom of the artist and the monk who renounces possessions.

Only the poor are handicapped by honor.

When asked what was the proper time for supper: If you are a rich man, whenever you please; and if you are a poor man, whenever you can.

In our rich consumers' civilization we spin cocoons around ourselves and get possessed by our possessions.

I'm a working-class person, working with class.

I was the child at school in second-hand or handmade clothes and, as I grew older, I craved material wealth, a big house and designer clothes.

The honest poor can sometimes forget poverty. The honest rich can never forget it.

In a school where everyone is famous or rich or whatever, you have a culture, 'What does your dad do?' 'What does your mom do?'

In Europe, you would almost never have people with large amounts of income being happy with a two-volume vehicle like a hatchback or a minivan. They want to structurally show their societal position, which is why three volumes are so popular. They show 'I'm part of that hierarchy.'

I come from a very working-class background.

There's often an assumption you're more privileged if you belong to a family with people who have made a success.

Perhaps they do not recognize themselves, for a rich man is even harder to define than a poor one.

Culture and possessions, there is the bourgeoisie for you.

I was kind of ashamed of my bourgeois family as a teenager, I guess - I had dreadlocks, shopped in thrift stores and pretended I had no money. At that time, I would have spat on a girl who was buying Yves Saint Laurent.

Money doesn't buy class.

In a consumer society, people wallow in things, fascinating, enjoyable things. If you define your value by the things you acquire and surround yourself with, being excluded is humiliating.

My father had to flee from what is today Pakistan when he was a child, and he became a manager at IBM, and any item of consumption he would acquire was a direct measurement of his success in life. But that same equation wasn't going to work for me - I was quite clear about that in my early teens.

What's great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest.

The affluent society makes no meaningful distinction between luxury and necessity.

The one class you do not belong to and are not proud of at all is the lower-middle class. No one ever describes himself as belonging to the lower-middle class.

A simple way to forecast the future is to look at what rich people have today; middle-income people will have something equivalent in 10 years, and poor people will have something equivalent in an additional decade.

I didn't come from a council estate like a lot of the lads do.

I'm not part of a middle-class establishment. I'm working class, and I grew up in a council house.

At school, when everyone would sell sweets and chocolate, I'd always take it that step further. I'd hustle as hard as I could to get the new Air Forces, to go and chill with the posh kids and the white girls who were around my area.