Margaret Mead

"The most important legacy we leave is not material, but the values we embody."

"We live in a time of unprecedented access to information and unprecedented confusion about meaning."

"The capacity to change one's mind in light of new evidence is a sign of strength, not weakness."

"Every individual has something valuable to contribute to the human community."

"The study of human culture teaches us that there are many ways to be human."

"We are all living experiments in how to be human in our particular time and place."

"The future will be determined by the choices we make today about who we choose to become."

"In times of rapid change, the young often understand the future better than the old."

"Every culture contains within it the seeds of its own transformation."

"The greatest act of courage is to be vulnerable and authentic."

"We must learn to see the world as a connected whole, not as isolated parts."

"The gift of anthropology is that it teaches us to question our most fundamental assumptions."

"A society is only as strong as its commitment to the wellbeing of all its members."

"The human capacity for adaptation is both our greatest strength and our deepest vulnerability."

"The way to do fieldwork is to go and live among the people you want to study."

"We are always more than what we know."

"The fact that we are I don't know how many millions of people, yet communication, complete communication, is completely impossible between two of those people, is to me one of the biggest tragedy of human existence."

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has - and it always has been thus."

"If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric."

"The generation gap is not an invention of the modern age. It is an eternal phenomenon."

"Youth is our most precious natural resource."

"A small group of thoughtful people could change the course of history."

"What is the meaning of the work you do? If it has no meaning, why do you do it?"

"I had the most important thing any human being can have - someone who believed in me."

"Every known human society recognizes and has rules about the giving and receiving of gifts."

"The cultural arrogance of the West has made it difficult for us to understand what truly matters in other societies."

"One could say that in the twentieth century, sex is the only form of adventure left to the middle classes."

"If the future is to be different, we ourselves must be different."

"The capacity for loyalty is the same as the capacity for betrayal."

"Warfare is a male preoccupation."