"In the United States, to an unprecedented degree, the individual's social role has come to be determined not by who he is but by what he can accomplish."

Previous Quote

The state does not demand justice of its members, but thinks that it succeeds very well with the least degree of it, hardly more than rogues practice; and so do the neighborhood and the family. What is commonly called Friendship even is only a little more honor among rogues.

— Henry David Thoreau