Clifford Geertz

"The way to understand the Balinese is to understand how they see themselves, not to impose our categories upon them."

"Man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun."

"Culture is not a power, something to which social events, behaviors, institutions, or processes can be causally attributed; it is a context, something within which they can be intelligibly described."

"Thick description is the goal of ethnographic writing."

"The anthropologist does not study villages; he studies in villages."

"You can't understand a culture unless you understand the meanings people attach to their actions."

"Meaning is public and shared, not private and individual."

"The concept of culture is essential to understanding human behavior."

"We must learn to see the world as others see it."

"Ritual is not a substitute for thought but a form of thought."

"Understanding requires imagination as much as observation."

"The diversity of human cultures is humanity's greatest resource."

"To understand a people is to understand their stories."

"Symbols are the threads from which social life is woven."

"The study of culture is the study of shared meanings."

"Religion provides meaning in a world that may seem meaningless."

"Art is a mode of understanding the world."

"Every society has its own logic and coherence."

"To be human is to be cultural."

"The mind is not a blank slate but shaped by culture."

"Understanding others requires setting aside our prejudices."

"Culture provides the lens through which we see reality."

"Interpretation is the fundamental task of the human sciences."

"We are the meanings we create."

"The world is full of meaning waiting to be discovered."

"To understand is to imagine yourself in another's place."

"Meaning emerges through social interaction and communication."

"The study of humanity is the study of diversity."

"Culture is not inherited genetically but learned and transmitted."

"Every culture has its own form of beauty."