"It is inadmissible that systems of ideas like religions, which have held so considerable a place in history, and to which, in all times, men have come to receive the energy which they must have to live, should be made up of a tissue of illusions."
Emile Durkheim was a French sociologist widely regarded as a founding figure in modern sociology. He established key concepts in social theory and wrote influential works including The Division of Labor in Society and Suicide. His methods shaped the academic study of social facts and institutions.