A.R. Radcliffe-Brown

"The function of law in society is to express and enforce the collective will."

"Social solidarity is maintained through the performance of shared rituals and ceremonies."

"The anthropologist observes not as an outsider but as a participant in human society."

"Exchange and reciprocity are not incidental but central to social life."

"Status and rank are fundamental features of all human societies, however egalitarian they appear."

"The sacred and the profane are distinctions that every society must make in some form."

"Social structures persist because individuals have learned to expect and enforce them."

"Understanding conflict requires understanding the shared values that make conflict meaningful."

"The division of labor in society is not determined by individual preference but by social necessity."

"Every society must solve the problems of reproduction, socialization, and social continuity."

"Deviance and conformity define each other; neither can be understood without the other."

"The study of religion in society reveals its function in maintaining social cohesion."

"Social institutions are not obstacles to individual freedom but the very basis of it."

"Tradition and innovation are not opposites but complementary forces in social evolution."

"The meaning of an action lies not in the actor's intention but in its social consequences."

"Cooperation in society depends on each individual accepting limits on their own desires."

"The anthropological view reveals that diversity is not a problem to be solved but a fact to be understood."

"Social values are embodied in institutions and expressed through ritual and ceremony."

"The relationship between individual and society is the fundamental question of the social sciences."

"Cultural adaptation represents the endless creativity of human societies in response to their environment."

"Society functions through the unconscious acceptance of social conventions by its members."

"The function of the social system is to maintain the continuity of the social structure through time."

"Ritual is the mechanism by which society reproduces itself and maintains social order."

"We must study institutions not in isolation but in their social context and relationships."

"The individual is shaped by the society in which he lives, yet also shapes that society through his actions."

"Social anthropology is fundamentally concerned with understanding human relationships and their patterns."

"Every custom, however strange it may seem, serves a function in maintaining social equilibrium."

"We cannot understand a people without understanding the bonds that connect them to one another."

"The study of primitive societies reveals universal principles of human organization."

"Social structure emerges from the interactions of individuals pursuing their interests within cultural constraints."