I don't feel that an atmosphere of debate and total disagreement and argument is such a bad thing. It makes for a vital and alive field.

Quote by Clifford Geertz

Topics: Clifford Geertz Quotes

Anthropology never has had a distinct subject matter, and because it doesn't have a real...

Anthropology never has had a distinct subject matter, and because it doesn't have a real...

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...

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.

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...

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 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...

My instincts are always against people who want to fasten some sort of hegemony onto...

My instincts are always against people who want to fasten some sort of hegemony onto...

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.

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...

The way in which mathematicians and physicists and historians talk is quite different, and what...

The way in which mathematicians and physicists and historians talk is quite different, and what...

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...

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...

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

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

Anthropology in general has always been fairly hospitable to female scholars, and even to feminist...

Anthropology in general has always been fairly hospitable to female scholars, and even to feminist...

I'm an inveterate fox and not a hedgehog, so I always think you should try...

I'm an inveterate fox and not a hedgehog, so I always think you should try...

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...

Meaning is socially, historically, and rhetorically constructed.

Meaning is socially, historically, and rhetorically constructed.

Believing, with Max Weber, that man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he...

Believing, with Max Weber, that man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he...

We're getting closer to our nature.

We're getting closer to our nature.

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...