Science Quotes

"In fieldwork, the observer inevitably becomes part of the observed."

"The researcher's greatest tool is not his methodology but his humanity."

"In fieldwork, theory meets reality, and both are forever changed by the encounter."

"The researcher's role is to illuminate, not to illuminate away the mystery."

"The observer cannot avoid affecting the observed; the researcher is always part of the research."

"Science is the conquest of nature."

"We cannot understand human behavior by studying isolated individuals in laboratories."

"The pattern of social life is revealed through the systematic observation of behavior."

"To study society scientifically, one must treat it as one would any natural phenomenon."

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

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

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

"The anthropologist is a witness to human diversity."

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

"The patterns of culture are patterns of human meaning-making."

"The study of culture is a study in possibilities."

"The patterns we observe reveal the genius of human adaptation."

"The study of culture expands our understanding of human nature."

"The patterns we study are patterns of human meaning."

"Information is a difference that makes a difference."

"The act of knowing has an almost mathematical elegance about it."

"The purpose of a system is what it does."

"Information is the reflection of reality, not reality itself."

"The universe punishes ignorance of its patterns with consequences."

"The greatest discoveries come from asking questions about assumed answers."

"In the field, the observer becomes part of the observed; this is the paradox of all ethnographic work."

"Every custom, no matter how strange it appears, serves some function within its cultural context."

"The researcher must become transparent to the people he studies, present but not intrusive."

"Science is the attempt to make the chaotic diversity of our sense-experience correspond to some kind of unified body of thought."

"Anthropology is fundamentally comparative and must examine multiple societies to find universal principles."