It is to the Riddle of the Sphinx that I have devoted fifty years of professional life as an anthropologist.

Quote by Gregory Bateson

Topics: Gregory Bateson Quotes

Logic is a poor model of cause and effect.

Logic is a poor model of cause and effect.

If we pursue this matter further, we shall be told that the stable object is...

If we pursue this matter further, we shall be told that the stable object is...

It is impossible, in principle, to explain any pattern by invoking a single quantity.

It is impossible, in principle, to explain any pattern by invoking a single quantity.

All experience is subjective.

All experience is subjective.

Money is always transitively valued. More money is supposedly always better than less money.

Money is always transitively valued. More money is supposedly always better than less money.

Every move we make in fear of the next war in fact hastens it.

Every move we make in fear of the next war in fact hastens it.

If a man achieves or suffers change in premises which are deeply embedded in his...

If a man achieves or suffers change in premises which are deeply embedded in his...

Official education was telling people almost nothing of the nature of all those things on...

Official education was telling people almost nothing of the nature of all those things on...

Numbers are the product of counting. Quantities are the product of measurement. This means that...

Numbers are the product of counting. Quantities are the product of measurement. This means that...

A major difficulty is that the answer to the Riddle of the Sphinx is partly...

A major difficulty is that the answer to the Riddle of the Sphinx is partly...

Members of weakly religious families get, of course, no religious training from any source outside...

Members of weakly religious families get, of course, no religious training from any source outside...

In the transmission of human culture, people always attempt to replicate, to pass on to...

In the transmission of human culture, people always attempt to replicate, to pass on to...

Rather, for all objects and experiences, there is a quantity that has optimum value. Above...

Rather, for all objects and experiences, there is a quantity that has optimum value. Above...

Language commonly stresses only one side of any interaction.

Language commonly stresses only one side of any interaction.

It is of first-class importance that our answer to the Riddle of the Sphinx should...

It is of first-class importance that our answer to the Riddle of the Sphinx should...

It is, I claim, nonsense to say that it does not matter which individual man...

It is, I claim, nonsense to say that it does not matter which individual man...

To think straight, it is advisable to expect all qualities and attributes, adjectives, and so...

To think straight, it is advisable to expect all qualities and attributes, adjectives, and so...

Interesting phenomena occur when two or more rhythmic patterns are combined, and these phenomena illustrate...

Interesting phenomena occur when two or more rhythmic patterns are combined, and these phenomena illustrate...

There is a strong tendency in explanatory prose to invoke quantities of tension, energy, and...

There is a strong tendency in explanatory prose to invoke quantities of tension, energy, and...

Number is different from quantity.

Number is different from quantity.