Appropriate Quote by Peter Farb

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

Men in all societies possess the biological equipment to remove their hats or shoes, but it is the birth within a particular culture that…

— Peter Farb

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

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

Gestures and facial expressions do indeed communicate, as anyone can prove by turning off the sound on a television set and asking watchers to…

— Peter Farb

Letters to the editors of English and American newspapers often contain expressions of horror about the new terms that creep into the language, and…

— Peter Farb

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

— Peter Farb

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

— Peter Farb

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

— Peter Farb

Native speakers of a language know intuitively whether a sentence is grammatical or not. They usually cannot specify exactly what is wrong, and very…

— Peter Farb

The dictionary is a closed system in which someone interested in the meaning of a word can go around and around and end up…

— Peter Farb

At every moment of his life the Shoshone must be careful to observe the complicated folkways of his group, to do reverence to superhuman…

— Peter Farb