Believing, with Max Weber, that man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun, I take culture to be those webs, and the analysis of it to be therefore not an experimental science in search of…

Quote by Clifford Geertz

Topics: Clifford Geertz Quotes

People keep asking how anthropology is different from sociology, and everybody gets nervous.

People keep asking how anthropology is different from sociology, and everybody gets nervous.

I was trained in the '50s as a New Critic. I remember what literature was...

I was trained in the '50s as a New Critic. I remember what literature was...

I think what's known about neurology is still scattered and uncertain.

I think what's known about neurology is still scattered and uncertain.

Younger anthropologists have the notion that anthropology is too diverse. The number of things done...

Younger anthropologists have the notion that anthropology is too diverse. The number of things done...

Gender consciousness has become involved in almost every intellectual field: history, literature, science, anthropology. There's...

Gender consciousness has become involved in almost every intellectual field: history, literature, science, anthropology. There's...

I don't have the notion that everybody has to write in some single academic style.

I don't have the notion that everybody has to write in some single academic style.

I had a hard time convincing students that they were going to North Africa to...

I had a hard time convincing students that they were going to North Africa to...

Two people have been really liberating in my mind; one is Wittgenstein and the other...

Two people have been really liberating in my mind; one is Wittgenstein and the other...

I think the perception of there being a deep gulf between science and the humanities...

I think the perception of there being a deep gulf between science and the humanities...

If I remember correctly, a writer is someone who wants to convey information. Language or...

If I remember correctly, a writer is someone who wants to convey information. Language or...

We need to think more about the nature of rhetoric in anthropology. There isn't a...

We need to think more about the nature of rhetoric in anthropology. There isn't a...

It's always amusing to look at how something early in the 20th century was written...

It's always amusing to look at how something early in the 20th century was written...

I do think the attempt to raise consciousness has succeeded. People are very aware of...

I do think the attempt to raise consciousness has succeeded. People are very aware of...

Has feminism made us all more conscious? I think it has. Feminist critiques of anthropological...

Has feminism made us all more conscious? I think it has. Feminist critiques of anthropological...

I've written a lot of books which are written from the moon - the view...

I've written a lot of books which are written from the moon - the view...

We're getting closer to our nature.

We're getting closer to our nature.

The point of literary criticism in anthropology is not to replace research, but to find...

The point of literary criticism in anthropology is not to replace research, but to find...

The North African mule talks always of his mother's brother, the horse, but never of...

The North African mule talks always of his mother's brother, the horse, but never of...

If there's ever a place where you can't argue that you can put the facts...

If there's ever a place where you can't argue that you can put the facts...

I've often been accused of making anthropology into literature, but anthropology is also field research....

I've often been accused of making anthropology into literature, but anthropology is also field research....