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Margaret Mead

Margaret Mead Quotes

Cultural Anthropologist

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Famous Margaret Mead Quotes

“The time has come, I think, when we must recognize bisexuality as a normal form of human behavior... we shall not really succeed in discarding the straitjacket of our cultural beliefs about sexual choice if we fail to come to terms with the well-documented, normal human capacity to love members of both sexes.”

IfsThinkingHumansWellsFormChoicesBeliefSexTermFailingSucceedMembersBehaviorNormalCapacityHuman BehaviorCapacity To LoveBisexualityHuman Capacity
Author:Margaret Mead
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“Mead's anthropology had many other red, white and blue- blooded virtues. One was the common anthropological conceit, out of which she made a career, to the effect that the ultimate value of studying other cultures was the use we could make of them to reconstruct our own - a heady kind of intellectual imperialism, as if the final meaning of others' lives was their significance for us.”

IfsKindMadeUseValuesCultureWhiteCommonCareersVirtueStudyEffectsIntellectualRedUltimateBlueFinalsSignificanceImperialismConceitAnthropologyOther CulturesMeadRed White And Blue
Author:Margaret Mead
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“Orientation in time, space, and status are the essentials of social existence, and the Balinese, although they make very strong spirits for ceremonial occasions, with a few startling exceptions resist alcohol, because if one drinks one loses one's orientation. Orientation is felt as a protection rather than as a strait jacket and its loss provokes extreme anxiety.”

IfsSpiritStrongSocialFeltLosesLossSpaceExistenceDrinkEssentialsAnxietyExtremesProtectionAlcoholOccasionsExceptionVery StrongProvokingJacketsOrientationStrong SpiritBalinese
Book:Balinese Character: A Photographic Analysis
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“Our first and most pressing problem is how to do away with warfare as a method of solving conflicts between national groups or between groups within a society who have different views about how the society is to be run. If you look back, you will see that warfare was an invention, just as ways of handling government or taxes are inventions. You will see, too, that once people use an invention they go on using it until they find another which they think is superior.”

PeopleIfsThinkingWayFirstsLooksDifferentWarUseProblemGovernmentRunningViewsGroupsGoes OnConflictTaxesMethodInventionSuperiorsWarfareDifferent Views
Book:PEOPLE AND PLACES
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“... some veil between childhood and the present is necessary. If the veil is withdrawn, the artistic imagination sickens and dies, the prophet looks in the mirror with a disillusioned and cynical sneer, the scientist goes fishing.”

IfsLooksDiesImaginationChildhoodScientistMirrorsArtisticProphetFishingCynicalVeilsDisillusionedSneer
Book:Male and female: a study of the sexes in a changing world
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“If we are to give our utmost effort and skill and enthusiasm, we must believe in ourselves, which means believing in our past and in our future, in our parents and in our children, in that particular blend of moral purpose and practical inventiveness which is the American character.”

IfsGivingBelieveMeanChildrenCharacterPastPurposeParentEffortMoralParticularSkillsOur ChildrenPracticalsEnthusiasmOur FutureOur PastInventivenessAmerican Character
Author:Margaret Mead
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“If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.”

IfsHumansWholeValuesCultureSocialWomenHistoryRichAchieveDiversitySocial JusticeToleranceDiverseFabricArbitraryFittingUnity In DiversityHuman ValuesI Am WomanInspirational DiversityDiversity Of LifeHuman DiversitySamoaDiverse CulturesFitting Together
Author:Margaret Mead
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“American society is very like a fish society. . . . Among certain species of fish, the only thing which determines order of dominance is length of time in the fishbowl. The oldest resident picks on the newest resident, and if the newest resident is removed to a new bowl, he, as oldest resident, will pick on the newcomers.”

IfsCertainOrderPicksSpeciesDetermineFishesImmigrationLengthBowlsDominanceResidentsAmerican SocietyNewcomers
Book:And Keep Your Powder Dry: An Anthropologist Looks at America
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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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“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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