Famous quotes

Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,269 quotes Who coined it · How we decide

English Italiano Polski עברית Français Português فارسی Español 中文 Русский Deutsch العربية हिन्दी 日本語 Ελληνικά Latina

Margaret Mead

116 quotes

“The ability to learn is older — as it is also more widespread — than is the ability to teach.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Today our approaches to children are fragmented and partial. Those who care for well children know little of children who are sick. The deep knowledge that comes from the intensive attempt to cure is separated from the knowledge of those whose main task is to teach.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nobody has ever before asked the nuclear family to live all by itself in a box the way we do. With no relatives, no support, we've put it in an impossible situation.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) first seen 1970 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Culture and Commitment : A Study of the Generation Gap (1970), p. 72
“Instead of being presented with stereotypes by age, sex, color, class, or religion, children must have the opportunity to learn that within each range, some people are loathsome and some are delightful.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) first seen 1972 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twentieth Century Faith : Hope and Survival (1972), p. 61
“No matter how many communes anybody invents, the family always creeps back. You can get rid of it if you live in an enclave and keep everybody else out, and bring the children up to be unfit to live anywhere else. They can go on ignoring the family for several generations. But such communities are not part of the main world.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) first seen 1973 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Future Families", in The American People in the Age of Kennedy (1973) edited by David M. Kennedy , p. 108
“We are living beyond our means. As a people we have developed a life-style that is draining the earth of its priceless and irreplaceable resources without regard for the future of our children and people all around the world.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) first seen 1974 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: * "The Energy Crisis — Why Our World Will Never Again Be the Same", in Redbook (1974); later in Progress As If Survival Mattered : A Handbook For A Conserver Society (1977) by Hugh Nash, p. 166
“The contempt for law and the contempt for the human consequences of lawbreaking go from the bottom to the top of American society.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) first seen 1974 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As reported in "Impeachment?" by Claire Safran, in Redbook (April 1974)
“Life in the twentieth century is like a parachute jump: you have to get it right the first time.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) first seen 1975 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Margaret Mead, World's Grandmother (1975) by Ann Morse, Charles Morse, Harold Henriksen, p. 9
“Sooner or later I'm going to die, but I'm not going to retire.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) first seen 1976 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interviewed in Los Angeles on the occasion of her 75th birthday, December 1976, as quoted in Newsweek Vol. 88, p. 157
“We women are doing pretty well. We're almost back to where we were in the twenties. (1976)”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Margaret Mead: A Life (1984) by Jane Howard, p. 362
“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.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) first seen 1977 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Growing Old in America" by Grace Hechinger, in Family Circle magazine (25 July 25 1977)
“I do not believe in using women in combat, because females are too fierce.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) first seen 1977 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Quote Unquote (1977) by Lloyd Cory, p. 364
“The United States has the power to destroy the world, but not the power to save it alone.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) first seen 1977 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Quotations for Our Time (1977), by Laurence J. Peter, p. 509
“If you associate enough with older people who do enjoy their lives, who are not stored away in any golden ghettos, you will gain a sense of continuity and of the possibility for a full life.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) first seen 1977 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Margaret Mead, quoted in "Growing Old in America: An Introduction with Margaret Mead" by Grace Hechinger, Family Circle (26 July 1977), p. 27
Also quoted by: Tom Stoppard (misattributed)
“Instead of needing lots of children, we need high-quality children.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) first seen 1978 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed to Mead in: Fleur L. Strand (1978) Physiology: a regulatory systems approach. p. 509
“It has been a woman's task throughout history to go on believing in life when there was almost no hope. lf we are united, we may be able to produce a world in which our children and other people's children will be safe.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) first seen 1978 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Margaret Mead (1978) cited in: United States. National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year The spirit of Houston: the First National Women's Conference. Vol. 84, Nr 1978, p. 153
“It seems to me very important to continue to distinguish between two evils. It may be necessary temporarily to accept a lesser evil, but one must never label a necessary evil as good.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Margaret Mead : Some Personal Views (1979) edited by Rhoda Métraux
“p. 14-15 as cited in: Theodore Schwartz (1979) Socialization As Cultural Communication. p. 14-15”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Because of their age — long training in human relations — for that is what feminine intuition really is — women have a special contribution to make to any group enterprise, and I feel it is up to them to contribute the kinds of awareness that few men... have incorporated through their education.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have spent most of my life studying the lives of other peoples — faraway peoples — so that Americans might better understand themselves.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cited in: Justin Wintle (2002) Makers of Modern Culture. Vol. 1, p. 350
“We will be a better country when each religious group can trust its members to obey the dictates of their own religious faith without assistance from the legal structure of their country.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A city must be a place where groups of women and men are seeking and developing the highest things they know.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Laughter is man's most distinctive emotional expression. Man shares the capacity for love and hate, anger and fear, loyalty and grief, with other living creatures. But humour, which has an intellectual as well as an emotional element belongs to man.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I must admit that I personally measure success in terms of the contributions an individual makes to her or his fellow human beings.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If one cannot state a matter clearly enough so that even an intelligent twelve-year-old can understand it, one should remain within the cloistered walls of the university and laboratory until one gets a better grasp of one's subject matter.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fathers are biological necessities, but social accidents.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed in Two Hugs for Survival (1982) by Harold A. Minden (1982), p. 22
“To cherish the life of the world.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Epitaph, as quoted in Margaret Mead : A Voice for the Century‎ (1982) by Robert Cassidy, p. 152
“Be lazy, go crazy.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Margaret Mead: A Life (1984) by Jane Howard, p. 60
“Everything is grist for anthropology's mill.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Margaret Mead: A Life (1984) by Jane Howard, Ch. 21, p. 319
“Prayer does not use up artificial energy, doesn't burn up any fossil fuel, doesn't pollute. Neither does song, neither does love, neither does the dance.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Margaret Mead: A Life (1984) by Jane Howard; cited in Journey Through Womanhood : Meditations from Our Collective Soul (2002) by Tian Dayton, p. 46
“Throughout history, females have picked providers for mates. Males pick anything.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed in 3,500 Good Quotes for Speakers (1985) edited by Gerald F. Lieberman, p. 114
“I was brought up to believe that the only thing worth doing was to add to the sum of accurate information in the world.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed in Psychology (1990) by Carole Wade and Carol Tavris, p. 372
“One of the oldest human needs is having someone to wonder where you are when you don't come home at night.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed in The Quotable Woman (1991) by the Running Press, p. 53
“It is an open question whether any behavior based on fear of eternal punishment can be regarded as ethical or should be regarded as merely cowardly.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed in American Quotations (1992) by Gorton Carruth and Eugene H. Ehrlich, p. 149
“The way to do fieldwork is never to come up for air until it is all over.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed in Simpson's Contemporary Quotations (1992) edited by James B. Simpson, p. 142
“A city is a place where there is no need to wait for next week to get the answer to a question, to taste the food of any country, to find new voices to listen to and familiar ones to listen to again.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed in The New Quotable Woman (1993) by Elaine Partnow, p. 331
“Thanks to television, for the first time the young are seeing history made before it is censored by their elders.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed in Banned Books Week '93: Celebrating the Freedom to Read (1993) by Robert P. Doyle, p. 62
“Of all the peoples whom I have studied, from city dwellers to cliff dwellers, I always find that at least 50 percent would prefer to have at least one jungle between themselves and their mothers-in-law.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed inBright Words for Dark Days: Meditations for Women Who Get the Blues (1994) by Caroline Adams Miller, p. 10
“We are now at a point where we must educate our children in what no one knew yesterday, and prepare our schools for what no one knows yet.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed in How They Work In Indiana : Business-Education Partnerships (1994) by Andrew L. Zehner (1994), p. 3
“I think extreme heterosexuality is a perversion.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed in Open Minds: Exploring Global Issues Through Reading and Discussion (1996) by Steven Widdows and Peter Voller, p. 69
“What people say, what people do, and what they say they do are entirely different things.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed in Teaching Music Through Performance In Band, Vol. 3 (2000), edited by Richard B. Miles, Larry Blocher, Eugene Corporon, p. 13
“The solution to adult problems tomorrow depends on large measure upon how our children grow up today.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed in Educational Psychology (2000) by Anita E. Woolfolk, p. 212
“Sister is probably the most competitive relationship within the family, but once the sisters are grown, it becomes the strongest relationship.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed in Sisters by Birth Friends by Choice : All the Things I Love About You (2003) by Ellyn Sanna
“I learned the value of hard work by working hard.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed in You Vs. You: Sport Psychology Got Life (2005) by Wayne Mazzoni, p. 90
“No society has ever yet been able to handle the temptations of technology to mastery, to waste, to exuberance, to exploration and exploitation. We have to learn to cherish this earth and cherish it as something that's fragile, that's only one, it's all we have. We have to use our scientific knowledge to correct the dangers that have come from science and technology.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Radio excerpt presented by Voice of America (17 January 2010)
“Never depend upon institutions or government to solve any problem. All social movements are founded by, guided by, motivated and seen through by the passion of individuals.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed in Talent Development for English Language Learners: Identifying and Developing Potential (2013) by Michael S. Matthews, Ph.D. SBN-13:9781618211057
“What are the rewards of the tiny, ingrown, biological family opposing its closed circle of affection to a forbidding world of the strong ties between parent and children, ties which an active personal relation from birth until death?... Perhaps these are too heavy prices to pay for a specialization of emotions which might be bought about the other ways, notable through coeducation. And with such a question in our minds its interesting to note that a larger family community, in which there are several adult men and women, seems to ensure the child against the development of the crippling attitudes which have been labelled Oedipus complexes, the Electra complexes, and so on.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: p. 147; Partly cited in: E. Michael Jones (1993) Degenerate Moderns: Modernity As Rationalized Sexual Misbehavior. p. 24-25
“Our young people are faced by a series of different groups which believe different things and advocate different practices, and to each of which some trusted friend or relative may belong. So a girl's father may be a Presbyterian, an imperialist, a vegetarian, a teetotaller, with a strong literary preference for Edmund Burke, a believer in the open shop and a high tariff, who believes that women's place is in the home, that young girls should wear corsets, not roll their stockings, not smoke, nor go riding with young men in the evening. But her mother's father may be a Low Episcopalian, a believer in high living, a strong advocate of States' Rights and the , who reads Rabelais, likes to go to musical shows and horse races...”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“… Her aunt is an agnostic, an ardent advocate of women's rights, an internationalist who rests all her hopes on Esperanto, is devoted to Bernard Shaw, and spends her spare time in campaigns of anti-vivisection. Her elder brother, whom she admires exceedingly, has just spent two years at Oxford. He is an Anglo-Catholic, an enthusiast concerning all things medieval, writes mystical poetry, reads Chesterton, and means to devote his life to seeking for the lost secret of medieval stained glass. Her mother's younger brother is an engineer, a strict materialist, who never recovered from reading Haeckel in his youth; he scorns art, believes that science will save the world, scoffs at everything that was said and thought before the nineteenth century, and ruins his health by experiments in the scientific elimination of sleep. Her mother is of a quietistic frame of mind, very much interested in Indian philosophy, a pacifist, a strict non-participator in life, who in spite of her daughter's devotion to her will not make any move to enlist her enthusiasms. And this may be within the girl's own household. Add to it the groups represented, defended, advocated by her friends, her teachers, and the books which she reads by accident, and the list of possible enthusiasms, of suggested allegiances, incompatible with one another, becomes appalling.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If a society insists that warfare is the major occupation for the male sex, it is therefore insisting that all male children display bravery and pugnacity. Even if the insistence upon the differential bravery of men and women is not made articulate, the difference in occupation makes this point implicitly. When, however, a society goes further and defines men as brave and women as timorous, when men are forbidden to show fear and women are indulged in the most flagrant display of fear, a more explicit element enters in. Originally two variations of human temperament, a hatred of fear or willingness to display fear, they have been socially translated into inalienable aspects of the personalities of the two sexes. And to that defined sex-personality every child will be educated, if a boy, to suppress fear, if a girl, to show it.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source