Anthropology Quote by Claude Lévi-Strauss
““The more we claim to discriminate between cultures and customs as good and bad, the more completely do we identify ourselves with those we would condemn. By refusing to consider as human those who seem to us to be the most “savage” or “barbarous” of their representatives, we merely adopt one of their own characteristic attitudes. The barbarian is, first and foremost, the man who believes in barbarism.””
About This Quote
Source Essay: The Savage Mind, 1962
Labeling cultures as good or bad reinforces our own biases and creates a self‑fulfilling cycle of dehumanization, turning us into the very “barbarians” we condemn.
In simple terms: Judging cultures creates bias and dehumanization.
Key Takeaway
Question your assumptions about others.
Themes
bias
culture
ethics
identity
othering
Mood
critical
challenging
Type
ethical
philosophical
When to use this quote
- cross‑cultural communication
- education reform
- media analysis
Key Concepts
anthropology
ethics
social psychology
Questions to Reflect On
- What assumptions do you hold about “the other”?
- How can you practice empathy toward unfamiliar customs?
A Different Perspective
Human tendency to otherize can be hard to overcome.
![“Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… [The anthropologist] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner alienation as an urban intellectual.” quote by Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/fe1/susan-sontag-332_alienation_anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-a_15322.jpg)
