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Ruth Benedict Quotes

Anthropologist

American anthropologist known for her contributions to cultural anthropology and social anthropology. Benedict focused on the differences between cultures and how these differences affect human behavior and social structures.

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Famous Ruth Benedict Quotes

“The lenses through which any nation looks at life are not the ones another nation uses.”

Humanity Understanding

Author:Ruth Benedict

“Systemic study of national differences requires a certain generosity as well as tough-mindedness. The study of comparative religions has flourished only when men are secure enough in their own convictions to be unusually generous. They might be Jesuits or Arabic savants or unbelievers, but they could not be zealots. The study of comparative cultures too cannot flourish when men are so defensive about their own way of life that it appears to them to be by definition the sole solution in the world. Such men will never know the added love of their own culture which comes from a knowledge of other ways of life. They cut themselves off from a pleasant and enriching experience.”

Religion Humanity Understanding

Book:The chrysanthemum and the sword: patterns of Japanese culture

Source: The chrysanthemum and the sword: patterns of Japanese culture

“The purpose of anthropology is to make the world safe for human differences.”

World Humans Different Science Purpose Humanity Differences Safe Safety Anthropology Anthropologists

Author:Ruth Benedict

“The adequate study of culture, our own and those on the opposite side of the globe, can press on to fulfillment only as we learn today from the humanities as well as from the scientists.”

Wells Today Humanity Culture Sides Study Opposites Scientist Presses Fulfillment Globes Adequate Arts And Humanities

Book:An Anthropologist at Work

Source: An Anthropologist at Work

About the Author

Born: June 5, 1887
Died: September 17, 1948
Known for: Anthropologist
Quotes: 66

Books & Sources

An Anthropologist at WorkRelated source material

PATTERNS OF CULTURERelated source material

Race: Science and PoliticsRelated source material

The Chrysanthemum and the SwordRelated source material

The chrysanthemum and the sword: patterns of Japanese cultureRelated source material

Chrysanthemum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese CultureRelated source material

Public Affairs PamphletRelated source material

Scientific PapersRelated source material

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