Margaret Mead

Having two bathrooms ruined the capacity to co-operate.

I have been accused of having believed when I wrote Sex and Temperament that there are no sex differences... This, many readers felt, was too much. It was too pretty. I must have found what I was looking for. But this misconception comes from a lack of understanding of what anthropology means, of the open-mindedness with which one must look and listen, record in astonishment and wonder, that which one would not have been able to guess.

Our humanity rests upon a series of learned behaviors, woven together into patterns that are infinitely fragile and never directly inherited.

Instead of needing lots of children, we need high-quality children.

Fathers are biological necessities, but social accidents.

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.

Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have.

‎ When a person is born we rejoice, and when they're married we jubilate, but when they die we try to pretend nothing has happened.

In this country, some people start being miserable about growing old while they are still young.

The closest friends I made all through life have been people who also grew up close to a loved and loving grandmother or grandfather.

For art to be reality, the whole sensuous being must be caught up in the experience.

My grandmother wanted me to get a good education, so she kept me as far away from schools as possible.

Children not only have to learn what their parents learned in school, but also have to learn how to learn. This has to be recognized as a new problem which is only partly solved.

An ideal culture is one that makes a place for every human gift

It is easier to change a man's religion than to change his diet.