--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I suffer the anthropological malady…" description: "\"I suffer the anthropological malady diagnosed by Le vi- Strauss inTristes tropiques: I find it much more difficult to suspend value judgments about th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/pierre-l-van-den-berghe-85062_detachment_i-suffer-the-anthropological-malady-diag_2224008.jpg" --- # I suffer the anthropological malady diagnosed by Le vi… ![“I suffer the anthropological malady diagnosed by Le vi- Strauss inTristes tropiques: I find it much more difficult to suspend value judgments about the society in which I normally reside than I do abroad. It takes physical and cultural distance to gain moral detachment and political noncommitment…” quote by Pierre L. van den Berghe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/pierre-l-van-den-berghe-85062_detachment_i-suffer-the-anthropological-malady-diag_2224008.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/pierre-l-van-den-berghe-85062_detachment_i-suffer-the-anthropological-malady-diag_2224008.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/pierre-l-van-den-berghe-85062_detachment_i-suffer-the-anthropological-malady-diag_2224008.jpg) > “I suffer the anthropological malady diagnosed by Le vi- Strauss inTristes tropiques: I find it much more difficult to suspend value judgments about the society in which I normally reside than I do abroad. It takes physical and cultural distance to gain moral detachment and political noncommitment. Relativism implies a solid measure of indifference.” [Pierre L. van den Berghe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-l-van-den-berghe/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Suspending value judgments about one’s own society is harder than about foreign ones; distance aids moral detachment. **In simple terms:** It’s easier to judge others than yourself without distance. Key Takeaway Seek distance to gain objective perspective. Themes relativism self‑reflection culture ethics Mood introspective analytical Type academic reflective When to use this quote - anthropological research - policy analysis - personal bias awareness - cross‑cultural work Key Concepts moral detachment cultural relativism political noncommitment Questions to Reflect On - How can you cultivate detachment while staying engaged? - What practices reduce ethnocentrism? A Different Perspective Distance may not fully eliminate bias; personal involvement can still color judgment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anthropological Malady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anthropological-malady-4976161/) [Detachment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/detachment/) [Difficult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/difficult/) [Distance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distance/) [Gains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gains/) [Indifference](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indifference/) [Judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgment/) [Malady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/malady/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Moral Detachment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral-detachment-4976160/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Relativism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relativism/) [Suffer Anthropological](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffer-anthropological-4976162/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) ## Related quotes > [Yes, I am positive that one of the great curatives of our evils, our maladies, social, moral, and intellectual, would be a return to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-wagner/yes-i-am-positive-that-one-of-the-great-curatives-of-our-evils-our/) [Charles Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-wagner/) > [“Isn't it strange, how one so afraid of contracting a fatal malady...should so earnestly wish for death, as well?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-brennert/isn-t-it-strange-how-one-so-afraid-of-contracting-a-fatal-malady/) [Alan Brennert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-brennert/) > [Religion is not a matter of God, church, holy cause, etc. These are but accessories. The source of religious preoccupation is in the self,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/religion-is-not-a-matter-of-god-church-holy-cause-etc-these-are-but/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [As soon as he ceased to be mad he became merely stupid. There are maladies we must not seek to cure because they alone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/as-soon-as-he-ceased-to-be-mad-he-became-merely-stupid-there-are/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Laughter is the great antidote for self-pity, maybe a specific for the malady, yet probably it does tend to dry one's feelings out a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/laughter-is-the-great-antidote-for-self-pity-maybe-a-specific-for-the/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [Work is the grand cure of all the maladies and miseries that ever beset mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/work-is-the-grand-cure-of-all-the-maladies-and-miseries-that-ever/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The capacity to see the big picture is perhaps the most important as an antidote to the variety of psychic woes brought forth by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-h-pink/the-capacity-to-see-the-big-picture-is-perhaps-the-most-important-as/) [Daniel H. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-h-pink/) > [I want to submit to you tonight that this country is not gospel-hardened; it is gospel-ignorant because most of its preachers are. And let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-washer/i-want-to-submit-to-you-tonight-that-this-country-is-not-gospel/) [Paul Washer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-washer/) > [Love is an incurable malady like those pathetic states in which rheumatism affords the sufferer a brief respite only to be replaced by epileptiform…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/love-is-an-incurable-malady-like-those-pathetic-states-in-which/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [When we do not know the truth of a thing, it is good that there should exist a common error which determines the mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/when-we-do-not-know-the-truth-of-a-thing-it-is-good-that-there-should/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Hysteria and degeneration have always existed; but they formerly showed themselves sporadically, and had no importance in the life of the whole community. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-nordau/hysteria-and-degeneration-have-always-existed-but-they-formerly/) [Max Nordau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-nordau/) > [Gary Greenberg is a thoughtful comedian and a cranky philosopher and a humble pest of a reporter, equal parts Woody Allen, Kierkegaard, and Columbo.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gideon-lewis-kraus/gary-greenberg-is-a-thoughtful-comedian-and-a-cranky-philosopher-and/) [Gideon Lewis-Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gideon-lewis-kraus/) > [Talk health. The dreary, never-changing tale Of mortal maladies is worn and stale. You cannot charm, or interest, or please By harping in that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/talk-health-the-dreary-never-changing-tale-of-mortal-maladies-is-worn/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [Honor, without money, is a mere malady.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-racine/honor-without-money-is-a-mere-malady/) [Jean Racine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-racine/) > [Ambition is a gilded misery, a secret poison, a hidden plague, the engineer of deceit, the mother of hypocrisy, the parent of envy, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-brooks/ambition-is-a-gilded-misery-a-secret-poison-a-hidden-plague-the/) [Thomas Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-brooks/) ## More by Pierre L. van den Berghe > [A towering theoretical achievement of exceptional elegance...Like most great books, Sociobiology is unpedantic, lucid, and eminently accessible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-l-van-den-berghe/a-towering-theoretical-achievement-of-exceptional-elegance-like-most/) [Pierre L. van den Berghe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-l-van-den-berghe/) > [Sociology seems to have missed every intellectually promising boat in the last half century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-l-van-den-berghe/sociology-seems-to-have-missed-every-intellectually-promising-boat-in/) [Pierre L. van den Berghe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-l-van-den-berghe/) [Explore all 3 Pierre L. van den Berghe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-l-van-den-berghe/) ## More Detachment quotes > [She watched the prairies the rivers, the towns slipping past at an untouchable distance below - and she noted that the sense of detachment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-watched-the-prairies-the-rivers-the-towns-slipping-past-at-an/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“Frequently, when I suggest to people that they detach from a person or problem, they recoil in horror. “Oh, no!” they say. “I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melody-beattie/frequently-when-i-suggest-to-people-that-they-detach-from-a-person-or/) [Melody Beattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melody-beattie/) > [“You need to belong to yourself, and let others belong to themselves too. You need to be free and detached from things and your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-eriksson/you-need-to-belong-to-yourself-and-let-others-belong-to-themselves/) [Charlotte Eriksson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-eriksson/) > [No one, it has been said, will ever look at the Moon in the same way again. More significantly can one say that no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/no-one-it-has-been-said-will-ever-look-at-the-moon-in-the-same-way/) [Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [The appeal of the spectrally macabre is generally narrow because it demands from the reader a certain degree of imagination and a capacity for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/the-appeal-of-the-spectrally-macabre-is-generally-narrow-because-it/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Plato dramatically puts the detachment of the philosopher from his time this way: to philosophize is to prepare to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-goldstein/plato-dramatically-puts-the-detachment-of-the-philosopher-from-his/) [Rebecca Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-goldstein/) > [“Subhuti, someone might fill innumerable worlds with the seven treasures and give all away in gifts of alms, but if any good man or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddh-rtha-gautama/subhuti-someone-might-fill-innumerable-worlds-with-the-seven/) [Siddhārtha Gautama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddh-rtha-gautama/) > [I sort of gave up on this whole human adventure a long time ago, divorced myself from it emotionally. It gives me an artistic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/i-sort-of-gave-up-on-this-whole-human-adventure-a-long-time-ago/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [In opposition to this detachment, he finds an image of man which contains within itself man's dreams, man's illness, man's redemption from the misery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvatore-quasimodo/in-opposition-to-this-detachment-he-finds-an-image-of-man-which/) [Salvatore Quasimodo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvatore-quasimodo/) > [Wandering, (is) considered as a state of detachment form every given point in space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-simmel/wandering-is-considered-as-a-state-of-detachment-form-every-given/) [Georg Simmel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-simmel/) > [“To be a warrior a man has to be, first of all, and rightfully so, keenly aware of his own death. But to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/to-be-a-warrior-a-man-has-to-be-first-of-all-and-rightfully-so-keenly/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [I tore my right shoulder to pieces - three external tears, a labrum tear, and a detachment of the bicep tendon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-o-loughlin/i-tore-my-right-shoulder-to-pieces-three-external-tears-a-labrum-tear/) [Alex O'Loughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-o-loughlin/) > [What becomes decisive to a Justice's functioning on the Court in the large area within which his individuality moves is his general attitude toward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/what-becomes-decisive-to-a-justice-s-functioning-on-the-court-in-the/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [Sometimes you'll see people give performances in comedy with an ironic detachment where they'll sort of be remarking on the character from outside of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-woods/sometimes-you-ll-see-people-give-performances-in-comedy-with-an/) [Zach Woods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-woods/) > [Yoga is an ancient discipline in which physical postures, breath practice, meditation, and philosophical study are tools for achieving liberation. In my interpretation, achieving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-yee/yoga-is-an-ancient-discipline-in-which-physical-postures-breath/) [Rodney Yee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-yee/) [Browse all 334 Detachment quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/detachment/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I suffer the anthropological malady diagnosed by Le vi- Strauss inTristes tropiques: I find it much more difficult to suspend value judgments about the society in which I normally reside than I do abroad. It takes physical and cultural distance to gain moral detachment and political noncommitment. Relativism implies a solid measure of indifference.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pierre L. van den Berghe" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-l-van-den-berghe/i-suffer-the-anthropological-malady-diagnosed-by-le-vi-strauss/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Detachment" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-l-van-den-berghe/i-suffer-the-anthropological-malady-diagnosed-by-le-vi-strauss/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/pierre-l-van-den-berghe-85062_detachment_i-suffer-the-anthropological-malady-diag_2224008.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/pierre-l-van-den-berghe-85062_detachment_i-suffer-the-anthropological-malady-diag_2224008.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/pierre-l-van-den-berghe-85062_detachment_i-suffer-the-anthropological-malady-diag_2224008.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I suffer the anthropological malady diagnosed by Le vi- Strauss inTristes tropiques: I find it much more…” — Pierre L. van den Berghe", "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": "Pierre L. van den Berghe", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-l-van-den-berghe/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I suffer the anthropological malady diagnosed...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-l-van-den-berghe/i-suffer-the-anthropological-malady-diagnosed-by-le-vi-strauss/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-l-van-den-berghe/i-suffer-the-anthropological-malady-diagnosed-by-le-vi-strauss/#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 } } ] } ```