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Margaret Mead

Margaret Mead Quotes

Cultural Anthropologist

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Famous Margaret Mead Quotes

“The suffering of either sex - of the male who is unable, because of the way in which he was reared, to take the strong initiating or patriarchal role that is still demanded of him, or of the female who has been given too much freedom of movement as a child to stay placidly within the house as an adult - this suffering, this discrepancy, this sense of failure in an enjoined role, is the point of leverage for social change.”

WayChildrenHas BeensStillsSufferingHouseStrongGivenSocialSexRolesToo MuchFeminismMovementAdultsFemaleMalesSocial ChangeDiscrepancies
Author:Margaret Mead
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“When human beings have been fascinated by the contemplation of their own hearts, the more intricate biological pattern of the female has become a model for the artist, the mystic, and the saint. When mankind turns instead to what can be done, altered, built, invented, in the outer world, all natural properties of men, animals, or metals become handicaps to be altered rather than clues to be followed.”

MenWorldHumansHeartHas BeensDoneBodyArtistTurnsNaturalHuman BeingsAnimalMankindModelsBuiltFemalePropertySaintPatternsContemplationFascinatedMetalsClueMysticAlteredIntricateHandicapsOuter Worlds
Book:Male and female: a study of the sexes in a changing world
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“Ninety-nine percent of the time humans have lived on this planet we've lived in tribes, groups of 12 to 36 people. Only during times of war, or what we have now, which is the psychological equivalent of war, does the nuclear family prevail, because it's the most mobile unit that can ensure the survival of the species. But for the full flowering of the human spirit we need groups, tribes.”

PeopleNeedsHumansDoeWarSpiritChangeGroupsPlanetsSurvivalPercentSpeciesNuclearNinePsychologicalCollaborationUnitsTribesSocial ChangeHuman SpiritNinetyMobileFloweringNinety NineNuclear Families
Author:Margaret Mead
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“Earth Day is the first holy day which transcends all national borders, yet preserves all geographical integrities, spans mountains and oceans and time belts, and yet brings people all over the world into one resonating accord, is devoted to the preservation of the harmony in nature and yet draws upon the triumphs of technology, the measurement of time, and instantaneous communication through space.”

PeopleWorldFirstsEarthSpaceTechnologyCommunicationIntegrityHolyMountainOceanDrawsHarmonyTriumphPreservesBordersDevotedPreservationBeltsAccordMeasurementEarth DayInstantaneousResonatingHoly DaysNational Borders
Author:Margaret Mead
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“Many people are shrinking from the future and from participation in the movement toward a new, expanded reality. And, like homesick travelers abroad, they are focusing their anxieties on home. The reasons are not far to seek. We are at a turning point in human history. . . . We could turn our attention to the problems that going to the Moon certainly will not solve ... But I think this would be fatal to our future. . . . A society that no longer moves forward does not merely stagnate; it begins to die.”

PeopleThinkingLifeInspirationalHumansDoeReasonProblemHomeRealityWould BeMovingDiesTurnsAttentionMovementFutureMoonAnxietySolveMoving ForwardOur FutureTravelerParticipationPredictionsHuman HistoryTurning PointsShrinkingHomesick
Author:Margaret Mead
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“Human beings do not carry civilization in their genes. All that we do carry in our genes are certain capacities- the capacity to learn to walk upright, to use our brains, to speak, to relate to our fellow men, to construct and use tools, to explore the universe, and to express that exploration in religion, in art, in science, in philosophy.”

MenHumansArtPhilosophyUseCertainUniverseSpeakHuman BeingsWalksBrainCivilizationCapacityToolsFellowsRelateExplorationGenesConstructsFellow ManAssessment
Author:Margaret Mead
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“If they learn easily, they are penalized for being bored when they have nothing to do; if they excel in some outstanding way, they are penalized as being conspicuously better than the peer group. The culture tries to make the child with a gift into a one-sided person, to penalize him at every turn, to cause him trouble in making friends and to create conditions conducive to the development of a neurosis. Neither teachers, the parents of other children, nor the child peers will tolerate a Wunderkind.”

IfsWayTryingChildrenPersonsMotivationalTurnsCultureCausesParentTeacherTroubleGroupsConditionsDevelopmentBoredToleratePeersOutstandingNeurosisOne SidedMaking FriendsBeing BoredPeer Group
Author:Margaret Mead
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“The capacity for friendship usually goes with highly developed civilizations. The ability to cultivate people differs by culture and class; but on the whole, educated people have more ways to make friends... . In England, for instance, you find everyone in your class has read the same books. Here, people grope for something in common-like a newly engaged girl who came to me and said, "It's absolutely wonderful! His uncle and my cousin were on the same football team.”

PeopleWaySaidBookWholeCultureGirlFriendshipAbilityCommonClassWonderfulTeamFootballCivilizationCapacityEnglandEducatedInstanceEngagedUnclesCousinFootball TeamMy Cousin
Author:Margaret Mead
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“Each home has been reduced to the bare essentials -- to barer essentials than most primitive people would consider possible. Only one woman's hands to feed the baby, answer the telephone, turn off the gas under the pot that is boiling over, soothe the older child who has broken a toy, and open both doors at once. She is a nutritionist, a child psychologist, an engineer, a production manager, an expert buyer, all in one. Her husband sees her as free to plan her own time, and envies her; she sees him as having regular hours and envies him.”

PeopleChildrenHas BeensHomeHandsTurnsHoursAnswersPlansDoorsBrokenBabyHusbandEssentialsProductionsEnvyManagersExpertsGasPotToysEngineersPrimitiveTelephonesPsychologistOne WomanHouseworkTurn OffBuyersBoilingNutritionistBoiling Over
Book:Male and female: a study of the sexes in a changing world
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“Our treatment of both older people and children reflects the value we place on independence and autonomy. We do our best to make our children independent from birth. We leave them all alone in rooms with the lights out and tell them, 'Go to sleep by yourselves.' And the old people we respect most are the ones who will fight for their independence, who would sooner starve to death than ask for help.”

PeopleChildrenHelpingLightValuesFightingAsksSleepRoomsBirthOur ChildrenIndependentIndependenceTreatmentOld PeopleAutonomyGoing To SleepAll AloneOlder People
Author:Margaret Mead
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“The institution of marriage in all societies is a pattern within which the strains put by civilization on males and females alike must be resolved, a pattern within which men must learn, in return for a variety of elaborate rewards, new forms in which sexual spontaneity is still possible, and women must learn to discipline their receptivity to a thousand other considerations.”

MenStillsFormMarriageReturnDisciplineCivilizationThousandFemaleInstitutionsRewardsMalesPatternsVarietyConsiderationStrainSpontaneityReceptivity
Author:Margaret Mead
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“Coming to terms with the rhythms of women's lives means coming to terms with life itself, accepting the imperatives of the body rather than the imperatives of an artificial, man-made, perhaps transcendentally beautiful civilization. Emphasis on the male work-rhythm is an emphasis on infinite possibilities; emphasis on the female rhythms is an emphasis on a defined pattern, on limitation.”

MenMeanMadeBodyBeautifulTermAcceptingPossibilityCivilizationFemaleInfiniteMalesPatternsRhythmDefinedLimitationArtificialEmphasisImperativesInfinite PossibilitiesLife Means
Book:Male and female: a study of the sexes in a changing world
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“The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does he picture us caught in a tremendous man-made or God-made trap from which there is no escape, but we must also listen to him day in, day out, describe how the trap is inexorably closing. To such prophecies the human race, as presently bred and educated and situated, is incapable of listening. So some dance and some immolate themselves as human torches; some take drugs and some artists spill their creativity in sets of randomly placed dots on a white ground.”

MenHumansDoeMadeArtistWhiteRaceCreativityFailingListeningDrugCaughtEducatedAlternativesHuman RaceProphetTrapsIncapableProphecyDoomClosingSpillsDotsTorchesBearable
Author:Margaret Mead
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“If I were to be taken hostage, I would not plead for release nor would I want my government to be blackmailed. I think certain government officials, industrialists and celebrated persons should make it clear they are prepared to be sacrificed if taken hostage. If that were done, what gain would there be for terrorists in taking hostages?”

IfsThinkingWantShouldPersonsDoneGovernmentCertainTakenClearGainsPreparedTerrorismTerroristReleaseOfficialsHostageGovernment Officials
Author:Margaret Mead
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“Many women, particularly young women, have claimed the right to use the most explicit sex terms, including extremely vulgar ones, in public as well as private. But it is men, far more than women, who have been liberated by this change. For now that women use these terms, men no longer need to watch their own language in the presence of women. But is this a gain for women?”

MenNeedsWellsHas BeensUseYoungLanguageSexWomenTermWatchesGainsIncludingYoung WomenVulgarMen WomenLiberatedExplicit
Author:Margaret Mead
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“Chief among our gains must be reckoned this possibility of choice, the recognition of many possible ways of life, where other civilizations have recognized only one. Where other civilizations give a satisfactory outlet to only one temperamental type, be he mystic or soldier, business man or artist, a civilization in which there are many standards offers a possibility of satisfactory adjustment to individuals of many different temperamental types, of diverse gifts and varying interests.”

MenWayGivingDifferentArtistChoicesIndividualInterestBusinessPossibilityTypeCivilizationOffersStandardsGainsSoldierChiefsRecognitionDiverseOutletsAdjustmentMysticBusiness Man
Author:Margaret Mead
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