Bourdieu Distinction Quotes & Sayings

The conventional way of understanding taste, according to Distinction, is to view it as a capacity for aesthetic judgments in areas such as music, art, and literature. Though rarely made explicit, it is well understood that taste can be found only among the elite, and that the lower classes lack it. Bourdieu argues that it is imperative to break with this concept of taste and replace it with one that is sociological in nature. In order to do so, Bourdieu expands the concept of taste from including only "aesthetic consumption" to including "ordinary consumption," that is, the consumption of clothing, furniture, and food ([1979] 1986:100). He also extends the concept of taste to all social classes, and shows that what constitutes "good taste" is very much part of the struggle for domination in society. — Richard Swedberg

When we give up on our dreams, we die while still alive. — Robin Sharma

We so resented that asshole up there talking talking talking taking up the entire assembly expecting us to believe there isn't a special creation of God, or of man, to which we didn't belong, here in the shabby south end of Hammond in the worst damn public school in the district, we didn't belong and never would.
And what the hell?
Such truths, FOXFIRE made softer. — Joyce Carol Oates

You don't have to subject yourself to the sweep and rigor of Bourdieu's book 'Distinction' to feel how thoroughly a lower-calorie version of its ideas has been absorbed into the cultural bloodstream. — Garth Risk Hallberg

Being senior enough in the field, having enough solidity, I don't feel afraid of being marginalized. — Elizabeth Blackburn

On a recent HBO special, Roseanne Arnold, who, incidentally, collects Barbies, excoriated what she considered to be Barbie's middle-class-ness. Why didn't Mattel make, say, "trailer-park Barbie"? But to many upper-middle-class women, all post-1977 Barbies are Trailer Park Barbie. Ironically, given the knee-jerk antagonism to Barbie's body, it is one of her few attributes that doesn't scream "prole." Her thinness - indicative of an expensive gym membership and possibly a personal trainer - definitely codes her as middle- or upper-middle-class. In Distinction, French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu notes that "working class women . . . are less aware of the 'market' value of beauty and less inclined to invest . . . sacrifices and money in cultivating their bodies." Likewise, Barbie's swanlike neck elevates her status. A stumpy neck is a lower-class attribute, Fussell says. — M.G. Lord

Talking about food arouses certain individuals the way talking about sex does others. — Bert Greene

Managers may think they control the flow of resources in their firms, in the end it is really customers and investors who dictate how money will be spent because companies with investment patterns that don't satisfy their customers and investors don't survive. — Clayton M Christensen

To succeed you need to care more than others think wise. You need to risk more than the others think safe. You need to dream more than others think practical and you need to expect more than others think possible. — Rashmi Bansal

I've been very lucky to work with a lot of amazingly supportive directors. — Megan Hilty

Success is not for the weak and uncommitted ... Sometimes it's gonna hurt! — Eric Thomas

Without question, the most important practice is bodhichitta. The wish to attain enlightenment to lead all living beings to that same state ... This mind of enlightenment is based on pure, great compassion, which in turn is based on pure, great love. In each case pure means impartial. Without conditions. And great means benefiting all living beings, not just the small group of those we happen to like at the moment. — David Michie

Life has a truth to it, and it's complicated - it's love and it's hatred. — Jamaica Kincaid