Marshall Sahlins
American anthropologist who critiqued economic rationality in 'Stone Age Economics' and studied cultural history.
Most quoted
"The original affluent society is not one in which all the people's material wants are easily satisfied, but rather one in which they are few."
— from Stone Age Economics, 1972
"Economics is not about the production and distribution of goods and services, but about the production and distribution of meanings."
— from Culture and Practical Reason, 1976
"The structure of the conjuncture is the way in which historical events are given meaning by cultural categories."
— from Islands of History, 1985
All quotes by Marshall Sahlins (102)
Culture is not a static entity, but a dynamic process.
The economy is not a separate sphere of human activity, but an aspect of all human activity.
The past is not dead; it is not even past.
Anthropology is the study of the human condition in all its diversity.
The gift is not a commodity, but a social relation.
Culture is the way in which humans make their world meaningful.
History is not a mirror of the past, but a lens through which we view the present.
The 'primitive' is not a lack of culture, but a different kind of culture.
Culture is not a prison, but a tool for liberation.
The market is not a universal institution, but a historically specific one.
The past is not a burden, but a resource.
Anthropology is the study of how humans create their own realities.
The gift economy is not irrational, but rational in its own terms.
Culture is the way in which humans transform the natural world into a human world.
History is not a given, but a construction.
The 'savage' is not a simple being, but a complex one.
Culture is not a luxury, but a necessity.
The economy is not a separate realm, but an embedded one.
The past is not a fixed entity, but a fluid one.
Anthropology is the study of how humans make their lives meaningful.
Contemporaries of Marshall Sahlins
Other Anthropologys born within 50 years of Marshall Sahlins (1930–2021).