Solutions to problems often depend upon how they're defined. — Mary Catherine Bateson Copy Share Image
“Self-care should include the cold shower as well as the scented tub.” — Mary Catherine Bateson Self care Copy Share Image
Fluidity and discontinuity are central to the reality in which we live. — Mary Catherine Bateson Discontinuity Copy Share Image
Fear is not a good teacher. The lessons of fear are quickly forgotten. — Mary Catherine Bateson Fear Copy Share Image
The capacity to combine commitment with skepticism is essential to democracy. — Mary Catherine Bateson Copy Share Image
When parents die, all of the partings of the past are reevoked with the realization that this time they will not return. — Mary Catherine Bateson Copy Share Image
Human beings tend to regard the conventions of their own societies as natural, often as sacred. — Mary Catherine Bateson Copy Share Image
“ We never promised we would stay the same,/But only we would shape our change/From this now single clay. [p. 82]” — Mary Catherine Bateson Age Copy Share Image
There are few things as toxic as a bad metaphor. You can't think without metaphors. — Mary Catherine Bateson Metaphor Copy Share Image
Caring can be learned by all human beings, can be worked into the design of every life, meeting an individual need as… — Mary Catherine Bateson Caring Copy Share Image
Worlds can be found by a child and an adult bending down and looking together under the grass stems or at the… — Mary Catherine Bateson Adults Copy Share Image
Of any stopping place in life, it is good to ask whether it will be a good place from which to go… — Mary Catherine Bateson Copy Share Image
As you get up in the morning, as you make decisions, as you spend money, make friends, make commitments, you are creating… — Mary Catherine Bateson Art Copy Share Image
I had repeatedly accepted inappropriate burdens, stepping in to do what needed to be done. In retrospect, I think I carried them… — Mary Catherine Bateson Copy Share Image
“It's all about being in control of myself as an older woman who lives alone, and it's all about how I am… — Mary Catherine Bateson Age Copy Share Image
“After all, most of us have lived lives based on commitments made without any way of knowing where they would lead. The… — Mary Catherine Bateson Age Copy Share Image
Insight, I believe, refers to the depth of understanding that comes by setting experiences, yours and mine, familiar and exotic, new and… — Mary Catherine Bateson Copy Share Image
...a disgruntled reflection on my own life as a sort of desperate improvisation in which I was constantly trying to make something… — Mary Catherine Bateson Desperate Copy Share Image
Improvisation and new learning are not private processes; they are shared with others at every age. We are called to join in… — Mary Catherine Bateson Age Copy Share Image
“Since few people arrive at retirement with an understanding that this transition will involve a rethinking of who they are, an interim… — Mary Catherine Bateson Adventure Copy Share Image
The critical question about regret is whether experience led to growth and new learning. Some people seem to keep on making the… — Mary Catherine Bateson Copy Share Image
Orthodox Judaism is a thicket of detailed injunctions, Biblical commandments elaborated during centuries of prohibited proselytizing, functioning to limit interaction with outsiders.… — Mary Catherine Bateson Believer Copy Share Image
A glad welcome to this affirmation by a group of psychologists that the self does not stop at the skin nor even… — Mary Catherine Bateson Affirmation Copy Share Image
Rarely is it possible to study all of the instructions to a game before beginning to play, or to memorize the manual… — Mary Catherine Bateson Adrenaline Copy Share Image
Wherever a story comes from, whether it is a familiar myth or a private memory, the retelling exemplifies the making of a… — Mary Catherine Bateson Approach Copy Share Image
Traditionally in American society, men have been trained for both competition and teamwork through sports, while women have been reared to merge… — Mary Catherine Bateson American society Copy Share Image
In many ways, constancy is an illusion. After all, our ancestors were immigrants, many of them moving on every few years; today… — Mary Catherine Bateson Adaptation Copy Share Image
We are not what we know but what we are willing to learn. — Mary Catherine Bateson Education Copy Share Image
Improvisation can be either a last resort or an established way of evoking creativity. — Mary Catherine Bateson Creativity Copy Share Image
The timing of death, like the ending of a story, gives a changed meaning to what preceded it. — Mary Catherine Bateson Death Copy Share Image
Most higher education is devoted to affirming the traditions and origins of an existing elite and transmitting them to new members. — Mary Catherine Bateson Copy Share Image
Every loss recapitulates earlier losses, but every affirmation of identity echoes earlier moments of clarity. — Mary Catherine Bateson Affirmation Copy Share Image
What would it be like to have not only color vision but culture vision, the ability to see the multiple worlds of… — Mary Catherine Bateson Ability Copy Share Image
A suprising number of physicians manage to continue to care about persons even after the rigors of medical training. — Mary Catherine Bateson Care Copy Share Image
No matter how happily a woman may be married, it always pleases her to discover that there is a really nice man… — Mary Catherine Bateson Copy Share Image
![“We never promised we would stay the same,/But only we would shape our change/From this now single clay. [p. 82]” quote by Mary Catherine Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/011/mary-catherine-bateson-11582_age_we-never-promised-we-would-stay-the-same_209661.jpg)
![“It's all about being in control of myself as an older woman who lives alone, and it's all about how I am going to do what I have to do to be as strong as I can be and be confident that I can do what I need to do as an older person. [p. 62]” quote by Mary Catherine Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94e/mary-catherine-bateson-11582_age_it-s-all-about-being-in-control-of-mysel_17830.png)
![“After all, most of us have lived lives based on commitments made without any way of knowing where they would lead. The uncertainty is an essential element in commitment, the acceptance of consequences an essential element in fidelity. [p. 80]” quote by Mary Catherine Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a3/mary-catherine-bateson-11582_age_after-all-most-of-us-have-lived-lives-ba_709103.png)
![“Since few people arrive at retirement with an understanding that this transition will involve a rethinking of who they are, an interim pattern has emerged, in which travel offers a way of fulfilling deferred daydreams of adventure while the next stage takes shape. [p. 31]” quote by Mary Catherine Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21f/mary-catherine-bateson-11582_adventure_since-few-people-arrive-at-retirement-wi_704614.png)
![“The critical question about regret is whether experience led to growth and new learning. Some people seem to keep on making the same mistakes, while others at least make new ones. Regret and remorse can be either paralyzing or inspiring. [p. 199]” quote by Mary Catherine Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72f/mary-catherine-bateson-11582_critical_the-critical-question-about-regret-is-wh_20978.jpg)
