Collection of phrases by Margaret Mead who was a famous anthropologist on various topics such as activism, life, children, education and the human being.
Margaret Mead was an acclaimed American anthropologist and poet and is known for her important works on cultural anthropology. She was honored with several awards, including the UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science .
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After completing her master’s degree at Columbia University, she went on to study adolescent girls and recorded her observations in the book “Adolescence, Sex, and Culture in Samoa” (1928). Her next expedition was to New Guinea, where she studied the thought processes of young children and noted her experiences in Growing Up in New Guinea (1930).
In addition, he wrote a couple of works that aimed at cultural conditioning. She even served as a professor in some of the renowned universities like Columbia University. Her most notable works as an anthropologist were her studies of illiterate people and she was known for her views on various social issues, including women’s rights and sexual morality.
Frases de Margaret Mead
Here are the best quotes from Margaret Mead:
1. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful and committed citizens can change the world. In fact, they are the only ones who have done it.”
2. “Children should be taught how to think, not what to think.”
3. “I was wise enough to never grow up, while fooling people into thinking I had.”
4. “Laughter is the most distinctive emotional expression of man.”
5. “Always remember that you are unique. Absolutely the same as everyone else.”
6. “Having someone wonder where you are when you don’t come home at night is a very old human need.”
7. “You know you love someone when you can’t put into words how they make you feel.”
8. “We will not have a society if we destroy the environment.”
9. “There is no greater vision of the future than recognizing… when we save our children, we save ourselves.”
10. “We are continually faced with great opportunities that are brilliantly disguised as unsolvable problems.”
11. “Young people are going from feeling guilty about sleeping with someone to feeling guilty if they don’t sleep with someone.”
12. “It is completely false and cruelly arbitrary to put all the play and learning in childhood, all the work in maturity and all the regrets in old age.”
13. “Every memory has three parts, yours, the others and the truth that is somewhere in between the other two.”
14. “Instead of needing lots of kids, we need high-quality kids.”
15. “If the future is to remain open and free, we need people who can tolerate the unknown, who will not need the support of fully elaborate systems or traditional models of the past.”
16. “Prayer does not consume artificial energy, it does not burn any fossil fuel, it does not pollute. Not a song, not love, not dancing.”
17. “It is easier to change a man’s religion than to change his diet.”
18. “I measure success in terms of the contributions a person makes to their fellow man.”
19. “Sisters is probably the most competitive relationship within the family, but once the sisters grow up, it becomes the strongest relationship.”
20. “Every time we free a woman, we free a man.”
21. “My grandmother wanted me to have an education, so she didn’t let me go to school.”
22. “For the first time, young people are seeing how history is made before it is censored by their elders.”
23. “An ideal culture is one that creates a place for every human being.”
24. “I learned to observe the world around me and write down what I saw.”
25. “It is an open question whether any behavior based on fear of eternal punishment can be considered ethical or should be considered merely cowardly.”
26. “I don’t believe in using women in combat, because women are too fierce.”
27. “One of the most dangerous things that can happen to a child is to kill or torture an animal and get away with it.”
28. “Women have an important contribution to make.”
29. “What people say, what people do, and what they say they do are completely different things.”
30. “Even if the ship sinks, the journey continues.”
31. “The solution to the problems of tomorrow’s adults depends largely on how our children grow today.”
32. “The ability to learn is older, and also more widespread, than the ability to teach.”
33. “Our first and most urgent problem is how to end war as a method of resolving conflicts between national groups within a society that have different views on how society should function.”
34. “I learned the value of hard work by working hard.”
35. “The notion that we are products of our environment is our greatest sin; we are a product of our choices.”
36. “Many societies have educated men based on the simple fact of teaching them not to be women.”
37. “Women want mediocre men and men are working hard to become as mediocre as possible.”
38. “I have a respect for manners as such, they are a way of dealing with people with whom you do not agree or do not like.”
39. “Never depend on institutions or the government to solve any problem. All social movements are founded, guided and motivated by the passion of the people.”
40. “If we want to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the full range of human potentialities, and thus weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which the diversity of the human being finds an adequate place.”
What do you think of these Margaret Mead phrases?
Much of Margaret Mead’s work was highly criticized, especially during the 1960s. Her views reflect the rise of the counterculture and stereotypical Western ideals that have been inverted. The views of Mead and many other leading 20th-century anthropologists have inspired generations of women to fight for a world of equality.
What is your favorite phrase? Do you want to contribute something else? Leave us your comment below.