If there's ever a place where you can't argue that you can put the facts over here and the text over there and see if they fit, it is surely in anthropology.

Quote by Clifford Geertz

Topics: Clifford Geertz Quotes

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...

Most anthropologists are doing straightforward ethnography, and should.

Most anthropologists are doing straightforward ethnography, and should.

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 think the American university system still seems to be the best system in the...

I think the American university system still seems to be the best system in the...

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 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...

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 agree with Chomsky in almost nothing. When it comes to innate structures and so...

I agree with Chomsky in almost nothing. When it comes to innate structures and so...

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...

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...

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...

I don't think things are moving toward an omega point; I think they're moving toward...

I don't think things are moving toward an omega point; I think they're moving toward...

Meaning is socially, historically, and rhetorically constructed.

Meaning is socially, historically, and rhetorically constructed.

I never leave a sentence or a paragraph until I'm satisfied with it.

I never leave a sentence or a paragraph until I'm satisfied with it.

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...

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 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.

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...

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

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

I don't write drafts. I write from the beginning to the end, and when it's...

I don't write drafts. I write from the beginning to the end, and when it's...