Alfred Kroeber

"The study of culture is the study of human possibility."

"Custom may be irrational, but it is rarely meaningless."

"Culture grows like an organism, with periods of rapid change and stasis."

"The patterns we see in culture are not accidents, but expressions of deeper principles."

"Understanding culture requires humility and openness."

"The boundaries of a culture are fluid and constantly shifting."

"In culture, form follows function, but not always or completely."

"The richness of human culture is our greatest treasure."

"Cultural borrowing is how civilizations advance."

"The anthropologist must learn to see the familiar as strange."

"Culture is neither wholly rational nor wholly irrational."

"Every custom has a history, even if we have forgotten it."

"The study of culture is ultimately the study of meaning."

"We inherit more from our ancestors than we inherit from our genes."

"Culture provides the framework within which we construct our lives."

"The patterns of culture reveal the patterns of the human mind."

"Anthropology is the discipline of radical equality."

"In culture, the individual and the society are inseparable."

"The seemingly irrational often contains hidden wisdom."

"Culture evolves as people solve practical problems and create meaning."

"The anthropologist is a witness to human diversity."

"Custom is the crystallized experience of a people."

"Culture is humanity's way of transcending nature."

"The superorganic exists above and beyond any individual."

"Understanding others begins with understanding ourselves."

"Culture is neither determined nor random."

"The study of culture teaches us what is possible for human beings."

"In every culture, there are seeds of both continuity and change."

"The patterns we observe in culture are patterns of human adaptation."

"Culture is the medium through which we give meaning to existence."