All human societies go through fads in which they temporarily either adopt practices of little use or else abandon practices of considerable use. Jared Diamond
Human societies vary in lots of independent factors affecting their openness to innovation. Jared Diamond
It's wrong to try and convert tribal societies. What should the empirical evidence for religion be? It should produce peaceful, strong, secure people who are right with God and right with the world. I don't see that evidence very often. Daniel Everett
Lest those islands still seem to you too remote in space and time to be relevant to our modern societies, just think about the risks... of our increasing globalization and increasing worldwide economic interdependence. Jared Diamond
My interest in secret societies is the product of many experiences, some I can discuss, others I cannot. Dan Brown
Of course great hotels have always been social ideas, flawless mirrors to the particular societies they service. Joan Didion
The broadest pattern of history - namely, the differences between human societies on different continents - seems to me to be attributable to differences among continental environments, and not to biological differences among peoples themselves. Jared Diamond
The governments of the present day have to deal not merely with other governments, with emperors, kings and ministers, but also with the secret societies which have everywhere their unscrupulous agents, and can at the last moment upset all the governments' plans. Benjamin Disraeli
The grandest of all laws is the law of progressive development. Under it, in the wide sweep of things, men grow wiser as they grow older, and societies better. Christian Nestell Bovee
The main thing that gives me hope is the media. We have radio, TV, magazines, and books, so we have the possibility of learning from societies that are remote from us, like Somalia. We turn on the TV and see what blew up in Iraq or we see conditions in Afghanistan. Jared Diamond
The rate of human invention is faster, and the rate of cultural loss is slower, in areas occupied by many competing societies with many individuals and in contact with societies elsewhere. Jared Diamond