---
title: "1 Natural Reasonable Quotes By Gregory Bateson"
description: "1 Natural Reasonable quotes by Gregory Bateson. Plus more from Gregory Bateson and more Natural Reasonable sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60d/gregory-bateson-7135_arbitrary_if-it-were-possible-adequately-to-presen_953824.jpg"
---

> [If it were possible adequately to present the whole of a culture, stressing every aspect exactly as appears in the culture itself, no single detail would appear bizarre or strange or arbitrary to the reader, but rather the details would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/if-it-were-possible-adequately-to-present-the-whole-of-a-culture/)

[Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60d/gregory-bateson-7135_arbitrary_if-it-were-possible-adequately-to-presen_953824.jpg)

## More by Gregory Bateson

> [Number is different from quantity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/number-is-different-from-quantity/)

[Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/)

> [We do not know enough about how the present will lead into the future. We shall never be able to say, "Ha! My perception,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/we-do-not-know-enough-about-how-the-present-will-lead-into-the-future/)

[Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/)

> [Synaptic summation is the technical term used in neurophysiology for those instances in which some neuron C is fired only by a combination of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/synaptic-summation-is-the-technical-term-used-in-neurophysiology-for/)

[Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/)

> [Somebody was saying to Picasso that he ought to make pictures of things the way they are-objective pictures. He mumbled that he wasn't quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/somebody-was-saying-to-picasso-that-he-ought-to-make-pictures-of/)

[Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/)

> [Still more astonishing is that world of rigorous fantasy which we call mathematics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/still-more-astonishing-is-that-world-of-rigorous-fantasy-which-we/)

[Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/)

> [What is true is that the idea of power corrupts. Power corrupts most rapidly those who believe in it, and it is they who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/what-is-true-is-that-the-idea-of-power-corrupts-power-corrupts-most/)

[Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/)

> [“A little hypocrisy and a little compromise oils the wheels of social life”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/a-little-hypocrisy-and-a-little-compromise-oils-the-wheels-of-social/)

[Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/)

> [Science, like art, religion, commerce, warfare, and even sleep, is based on presuppositions. It differs, however, from most other branches of human activity in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/science-like-art-religion-commerce-warfare-and-even-sleep-is-based-on/)

[Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/)

> [Desired substance, things, patterns, or sequences of experience that are in some sense "good" for the organism - items of diet, conditions of life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/desired-substance-things-patterns-or-sequences-of-experience-that-are/)

[Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/)

> [No organism can afford to be conscious of matters with which it could deal at unconscious levels. Broadly, we can afford to sink those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/no-organism-can-afford-to-be-conscious-of-matters-with-which-it-could/)

[Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/)

> [Wisdom is the intelligence of the system as a whole.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/wisdom-is-the-intelligence-of-the-system-as-a-whole/)

[Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/)

> [Still more astonishing is that world of rigorous fantasy we call mathematics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/still-more-astonishing-is-that-world-of-rigorous-fantasy-we-call/)

[Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/)

> [The pathology is to want control, not that you ever get it, because of course you never do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/the-pathology-is-to-want-control-not-that-you-ever-get-it-because-of/)

[Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/)

> [Our initial sensory data are always "first derivatives," statements about differences which exist among external objects or statements about changes which occur either in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/our-initial-sensory-data-are-always-first-derivatives-statements/)

[Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/)

> [Multiple descriptions are better than one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/multiple-descriptions-are-better-than-one/)

[Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/)

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