Peter Farb Quotes

• Food to a large extent is what holds a society together, and eating is closely linked to deep spiritual experiences.

  Peter Farb

  Spiritual, Together, Eating

  "Consuming Passions: The Anthropology of Eating". Book by George J. Armelagos and Peter Farb, www.huffingtonpost.com. 1980.

  56 Copy quote

• A complex society is not necessarily more advanced than a simple one; it has just adapted to conditions in a more complicated way.

  Peter Farb

  Simple, Society, Way

  Peter Farb (1968). “Man's Rise to Civilization as Shown by the Indians of North America from Primeval Times to the Coming of the Industrial State”

  8 Copy quote

• Gestures and facial expressions do indeed communicate, as anyone can prove by turning off the sound on a television set and asking watchers to characterize the speakers from the picture alone.

  Peter Farb

  Communication, Expression, Gestures

  Peter Farb (2015). “Word Play: What Happens When People Talk”, p.236, Vintage

  8 Copy quote

• At every moment of his life the Shoshone must be careful to observe the complicated folkways of his group, to do reverence to superhuman powers, to remember the courtesies and obligations of family, to pay homage to certain sacred plants, or to avoid particular places.

  Peter Farb

  Pay, Sacred, Groups

  Peter Farb (1968). “Man's rise to civilization as shown by the Indians of North America from primeval times to the coming of the industrial state”, Secker & Warburg

  52 Copy quote

• Men in all societies possess the biological equipment to remove their hats or shoes, but it is the birth within a particular culture that decides that a Jew will keep his hat and shoes on in his place of worship, a Mohammedan will take off his shoes, and a Christian will keep his shoes on but remove his hat.

  Peter Farb

  Christian, Men, Shoes

  PETER FARB (1968). “MAN'S RISE TO CIVILIZATION”

  8 Copy quote

• An invention or new combination can be successful only if all if the elements necessary for the recombination are present in the culture.

  Peter Farb

  Successful, Culture, Elements

  Peter Farb (1968). “Man's rise to civilization as shown by the Indians of North America from primeval times to the coming of the industrial state”, Secker & Warburg

  4 Copy quote

• No child is capable of speech until he has heard other human beings speak, and even two infants reared together cannot develop a language from scratch.

  Peter Farb

  Children, Two, Together

  PETER FARB (1973). “WORD PLAY WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PEOPLE TALK”

  4 Copy quote

• Native speakers of a language know intuitively whether a sentence is grammatical or not. They usually cannot specify exactly what is wrong, and very possibly they make the same mistakes in their own speech, but they know-unconsciously, not as a set of rules they learned in school-when a sentence is incorrect.

  Peter Farb

  Mistake, School, Speech

  Peter Farb (2015). “Word Play: What Happens When People Talk”, p.258, Vintage

  6 Copy quote

• The environment does not determine man's culture; it merely sets the outer limits and at the same time offers opportunities.

  Peter Farb

  Opportunity, Men, Doe

  PETER FARB (1968). “MAN'S RISE TO CIVILIZATION AS SHOWN BY THE INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA FROM PRIMEVAL TIMES TO THE COMING OF THE INDUSTRIAL STATE”

  5 Copy quote

• People who speak the same language can hate one another as easily as can people who speak unrelated languages.

  Peter Farb

  Hate, People, Hatred

  PETER FARB (1973). “WORD PLAY WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PEOPLE TALK”

  4 Copy quote

• An inability to communicate has little to do with international friction-as is seen in the special ferocity of wars fought between people who speak the same language.

  Peter Farb

  War, Communication, People

  PETER FARB (1973). “WORD PLAY WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PEOPLE TALK”

  5 Copy quote

• Despite the theories traditionally taught in high-school social studies, the truth is: the more primitive the society, the more leisured its way of life.

  Peter Farb

  School, Way, Taught

  Peter Farb (1968). “Man's Rise to Civilization as Shown by the Indians of North America from Primeval Times to the Coming of the Industrial State”

  6 Copy quote

• Speakers who have grown up in the American community unconsciously know its rules about taking turns in conversations-in the same way that they know the rules of grammar and the rules about appropriate speech in various situations.

  Peter Farb

  Community, Way, Speech

  Peter Farb (2015). “Word Play: What Happens When People Talk”, p.240, Vintage

  4 Copy quote

• Language does not stand still. Surprisingly, despite this knowledge, most speakers are fearful of change.

  Peter Farb

  Change, Doe, Language

  PETER FARB (1973). “WORD PLAY WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PEOPLE TALK”

  4 Copy quote

• In place of science, the Eskimo has only magic to bridge the gap between what he can understand and what is not known. Without magic, his life would be one long panic.

  Peter Farb

  Science, Bridges, Long

  Peter Farb (1968). “Man's Rise to Civilization as Shown by the Indians of North America from Primeval Times to the Coming of the Industrial State”

  4 Copy quote

• Marriage is simply an economic necessity, and so there are no elaborate courtship displays or marriage celebrations among the Eskimo.

  Peter Farb

  Marriage, Celebration, Economic

  Peter Farb (1968). “Man's rise to civilization as shown by the Indians of North America from primeval times to the coming of the industrial state”, Secker & Warburg

  4 Copy quote

• The dictionary is a closed system in which someone interested in the meaning of a word can go around and around and end up exactly where he started, simply because words are defined in terms of other words, and these, in turn, are defined in terms of still other words.

  Peter Farb

  Ends, Term, Turns

  Peter Farb (2015). “Word Play: What Happens When People Talk”, p.227, Vintage

  4 Copy quote

• Letters to the editors of English and American newspapers often contain expressions of horror about the new terms that creep into the language, and these expressions are usually accompanied by dire predictions about ruination of the mother tongue.

  Peter Farb

  Mother, Editors, Expression

  Peter Farb (2015). “Word Play: What Happens When People Talk”, p.331, Vintage

  6 Copy quote

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