--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The institution of marriage in all…" description: "\"The institution of marriage in all societies is a pattern within which the strains put by civilization on males and females alike must be resolved, a p..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e0/margaret-mead-982_civilization_the-institution-of-marriage-in-all-socie_477639.jpg" --- # The institution of marriage in all societies is a pattern… ![“The institution of marriage in all societies is a pattern within which the strains put by civilization on males and females alike must be resolved, a pattern within which men must learn, in return for a variety of elaborate rewards, new forms in which sexual spontaneity is still possible, and…” quote by Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e0/margaret-mead-982_civilization_the-institution-of-marriage-in-all-socie_477639.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e0/margaret-mead-982_civilization_the-institution-of-marriage-in-all-socie_477639.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e0/margaret-mead-982_civilization_the-institution-of-marriage-in-all-socie_477639.jpg) > “The institution of marriage in all societies is a pattern within which the strains put by civilization on males and females alike must be resolved, a pattern within which men must learn, in return for a variety of elaborate rewards, new forms in which sexual spontaneity is still possible, and women must learn to discipline their receptivity to a thousand other considerations.” [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Marriage serves as a social framework where both genders negotiate societal pressures, balancing rewards and constraints while preserving personal spontaneity. **In simple terms:** Marriage balances societal demands and personal freedom. Key Takeaway Navigate marriage’s social expectations. Themes marriage gender roles social structure personal freedom Mood analytical thoughtful Type anthropological sociological When to use this quote - family planning - career decisions - cross‑cultural studies Key Concepts cultural norms sexuality rewards anddiscipline Questions to Reflect On - How do societies shape marital expectations? - What freedoms exist within marriage? A Different Perspective Cultural expectations can limit individual expression. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Consideration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consideration/) [Discipline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discipline/) [Female](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/female/) [Institution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/institution/) [Institutions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/institutions/) [Males](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/males/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Patterns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patterns/) [Receptivity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/receptivity/) [Rewards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rewards/) [Societies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/societies/) [Spontaneity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spontaneity/) [Variety](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/variety/) ## Related quotes > [The institution of marriage, if you look at it over many centuries, has come and gone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-zeldin/the-institution-of-marriage-if-you-look-at-it-over-many-centuries-has/) [Theodore Zeldin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-zeldin/) > [Actually, I believe in the institution of marriage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-campbell/actually-i-believe-in-the-institution-of-marriage/) [Glen Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-campbell/) > [I don't believe in the institution of marriage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akshaye-khanna/i-don-t-believe-in-the-institution-of-marriage/) [Akshaye Khanna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akshaye-khanna/) > [The whole institution of marriage itself really has no place in a progressive society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-stanhope/the-whole-institution-of-marriage-itself-really-has-no-place-in-a/) [Doug Stanhope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-stanhope/) > [The institution of marriage is obsolete.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-fonda/the-institution-of-marriage-is-obsolete/) [Jane Fonda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-fonda/) > [I love the institution of marriage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-pierre-white/i-love-the-institution-of-marriage/) [Marco Pierre White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-pierre-white/) > [“The 'institution of marriage' is being threatened - by people getting married? Huh?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-engela/the-institution-of-marriage-is-being-threatened-by-people-getting/) [Christina Engela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-engela/) > [The institution of marriage holds society together. We can't replace the family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-huelskamp/the-institution-of-marriage-holds-society-together-we-can-t-replace/) [Tim Huelskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-huelskamp/) > [In many ways, the crumbling of the institution of marriage is the real 'war on women.' Marriage is the civilizing influence for men and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-huelskamp/in-many-ways-the-crumbling-of-the-institution-of-marriage-is-the-real/) [Tim Huelskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-huelskamp/) > [Obviously, the institution of marriage in America has utterly collapsed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-singer/obviously-the-institution-of-marriage-in-america-has-utterly-collapsed/) [Paul Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-singer/) > [I believe in the institution of marriage; Other than cinema, it's the only way to be immortalised!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randeep-hooda/i-believe-in-the-institution-of-marriage-other-than-cinema-it-s-the/) [Randeep Hooda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randeep-hooda/) > [There are few more powerful tools for promoting stability than the institution of marriage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-duncan-smith/there-are-few-more-powerful-tools-for-promoting-stability-than-the/) [Iain Duncan Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-duncan-smith/) > [I believe in the institution of marriage. Of course being a Mormon, we believe in eternity rather than just till death do us part.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donny-osmond/i-believe-in-the-institution-of-marriage-of-course-being-a-mormon-we/) [Donny Osmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donny-osmond/) > [I believe in the institution of marriage, but one can't fix a time for it. Please don't predict it for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ranbir-kapoor/i-believe-in-the-institution-of-marriage-but-one-can-t-fix-a-time-for/) [Ranbir Kapoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ranbir-kapoor/) > [Most of the well-known American feminists of the 19th century did not come out against the institution of marriage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-decrow/most-of-the-well-known-american-feminists-of-the-19th-century-did-not/) [Karen DeCrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-decrow/) ## More by Margaret Mead > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [The contempt for law and the contempt for the human consequences of lawbreaking go from the bottom to the top of American society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-contempt-for-law-and-the-contempt-for-the-human-consequences-of/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [If one cannot state a matter clearly enough so that even an intelligent twelve-year-old can understand it, one should remain within the cloistered walls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/if-one-cannot-state-a-matter-clearly-enough-so-that-even-an/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [I learned the value of hard work by working hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/i-learned-the-value-of-hard-work-by-working-hard/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/children-must-be-taught-how-to-think-not-what-to-think/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [Women are scolded both for being mothers and for not being mothers, for wanting to eat their cake and have it too, and for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/women-are-scolded-both-for-being-mothers-and-for-not-being-mothers/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [we came to realize that a civilization which rode roughshod over the way of life of other peoples was incorporating evil in its own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/we-came-to-realize-that-a-civilization-which-rode-roughshod-over-the/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [WE MUST DEVISE A SYSTEM IN WHICH PEACE IS MORE REWARDING THAN WAR.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/we-must-devise-a-system-in-which-peace-is-more-rewarding-than-war/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [Through a grandmother's voice and hands the end of life is known at the beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/through-a-grandmother-s-voice-and-hands-the-end-of-life-is-known-at/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [today's children are the first generation to grow up in a world that has the power to destroy itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/today-s-children-are-the-first-generation-to-grow-up-in-a-world-that/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [We are now at a point where we must educate our children in what no one knew yesterday, and prepare our schools for what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/we-are-now-at-a-point-where-we-must-educate-our-children-in-what-no/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [Humanity . . . lies in man's capacity to question the known and imagine the unknown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/humanity-lies-in-man-s-capacity-to-question-the-known-and-imagine-the/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [Fathers are biological necessities, but social accidents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/fathers-are-biological-necessities-but-social-accidents/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [“One of the most dangerous things that can happen to a child is to kill or torture an animal and not be held responsible.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/one-of-the-most-dangerous-things-that-can-happen-to-a-child-is-to/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [We end up with the contradictory picture of a society that appears to throw its doors wide open to women, but translates her every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/we-end-up-with-the-contradictory-picture-of-a-society-that-appears-to/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) [Explore all 314 Margaret Mead quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) ## More Civilization quotes > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Sentiment is the mightiest force in civilization; not sentimentality, but sentiment. Women will bring this into politics. Home, sweet home, is as powerful on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-ellen-foster/sentiment-is-the-mightiest-force-in-civilization-not-sentimentality/) [Judith Ellen Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-ellen-foster/) > [Violence is not necessary to destroy a civilization. Each civilization dies from indifference toward the unique values which created it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-gomez-davila/violence-is-not-necessary-to-destroy-a-civilization-each-civilization/) [Nicolas Gomez Davila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-gomez-davila/) > [“The voice in the head that never stops speaking becomes a civilization that is obsessed with form and therefore knows nothing of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-voice-in-the-head-that-never-stops-speaking-becomes-a/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [We released 400,000 classified documents, the most extraordinary history of a war to ever have been released in our civilization. Those documents cover 109,000…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-assange/we-released-400-000-classified-documents-the-most-extraordinary/) [Julian Assange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-assange/) > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Whenever we touch nature we get clean. People who have got dirty through too much civilization take a walk in the woods, or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/whenever-we-touch-nature-we-get-clean-people-who-have-got-dirty/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/the-invention-of-gunpowder-and-the-constant-improvement-of-firearms/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/another-success-is-the-post-office-with-its-educating-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“The mission is, not to replace old world mindlessness with new world mindlessness, but to put an end to all forms of brainless authoritarianism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-mission-is-not-to-replace-old-world-mindlessness-with-new-world/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Our civilization, bequeathed to us by fierce adventurers, eaters of meat and hunters, is so full of hurry and combat, so busy about many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/our-civilization-bequeathed-to-us-by-fierce-adventurers-eaters-of/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Coal lay in ledges under the ground since the Flood, until a laborer with pick and windlass brings it to the surface. We may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/coal-lay-in-ledges-under-the-ground-since-the-flood-until-a-laborer/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Once we allow ourselves to be disobedient to the test of an accountant's profit, we have begun to change our civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/once-we-allow-ourselves-to-be-disobedient-to-the-test-of-an/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-josiah-brewer/our-laws-and-our-institutions-must-necessarily-be-based-upon-and/) [David Josiah Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-josiah-brewer/) [Browse all 4,084 Civilization quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The institution of marriage in all societies is a pattern within which the strains put by civilization on males and females alike must be resolved, a pattern within which men must learn, in return for a variety of elaborate rewards, new forms in which sexual spontaneity is still possible, and women must learn to discipline their receptivity to a thousand other considerations.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Margaret Mead" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-institution-of-marriage-in-all-societies-is-a-pattern-within/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Civilization" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-institution-of-marriage-in-all-societies-is-a-pattern-within/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e0/margaret-mead-982_civilization_the-institution-of-marriage-in-all-socie_477639.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e0/margaret-mead-982_civilization_the-institution-of-marriage-in-all-socie_477639.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e0/margaret-mead-982_civilization_the-institution-of-marriage-in-all-socie_477639.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The institution of marriage in all societies is a pattern within which the strains put by civilization on…” — Margaret Mead", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Margaret Mead", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The institution of marriage in all...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-institution-of-marriage-in-all-societies-is-a-pattern-within/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-institution-of-marriage-in-all-societies-is-a-pattern-within/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```