Marshall Sahlins

Anthropology United States 1930 – 2021 102 quotes

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)

Myth and history intertwine.

Islands of History 1985

To understand culture is to understand freedom.

Culture and Practical Reason 1976