The point of literary criticism in anthropology is not to replace research, but to find out how it is that we are persuasive.

Quote by Clifford Geertz

Topics: Clifford Geertz Quotes

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 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...

Most anthropologists are doing straightforward ethnography, and should.

Most anthropologists are doing straightforward ethnography, and should.

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 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.

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'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.

I don't feel that an atmosphere of debate and total disagreement and argument is such...

I don't feel that an atmosphere of debate and total disagreement and argument is such...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Meaning is socially, historically, and rhetorically constructed.

Meaning is socially, historically, and rhetorically constructed.

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 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 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...

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

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

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.