Institution
An institution is any structure or mechanism of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of a set of individuals within a given community — may it be human or a specific animal one. Institutions are identified with a social purpose, transcending individuals and intentions by mediating the rules that govern cooperative living behavior.
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Famous quotes containing the word institution:
“The sick man is taken away by the institution that takes charge not of the individual, but of his illness, an isolated object transformed or eliminated by technicians devoted to the defense of health the way others are attached to the defense of law and order or tidiness.”
—Michel de Certeau (1925–1986)
“An institution is the lengthened shadow of one man.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The most socially subversive institution of our time is the one-parent family.”
—Paul Johnson (b. 1928)