In the field one has to face a chaos of facts, some of which are so small that they seem insignificant; others loom so large that they are hard to en…

- Bronislaw Malinowski

The anthropologist must relinquish his comfortable position in the long chair on the veranda of the missionary compound, Government station, or plant…

- Bronislaw Malinowski

The magnificent title of the Functional School of Anthropology has been bestowed on myself, in a way on myself, and to a large extent out of my own s…

- Bronislaw Malinowski

I, personally, am unable to accept any revealed religion, Christian or not.

- Bronislaw Malinowski

Both magic and religion are based strictly on mythological tradition, and they also both exist in the atmosphere of the miraculous, in a constant rev…

- Bronislaw Malinowski

You utter a vow or forge a signature and you may find yourself bound for life to a monastery, a woman or prison.

- Bronislaw Malinowski

For no sooner had I begun to read this great work [Frasier, The Golden Bough ], than I became immersed in it and enslaved by it. I realized then that…

- Bronislaw Malinowski

An order given in battle, an instruction issued by the master of a sailing ship, a cry for help, are as powerful in modifying the course of events as…

- Bronislaw Malinowski

Coastal sailing as long as it is perfectly safe and easy commands no magic. Overseas expeditions are invariably bound up with ceremonies and ritual. …

- Bronislaw Malinowski