Bronisław Malinowski

Magic fills the gap between knowledge and desire.

The matrilineal system shapes Trobriand kinship profoundly.

Culture is an apparatus for the satisfaction of human needs.

To know a culture, live it.

Crime in primitive society is a breach of reciprocity.

The yam house symbolizes wealth and status.

Anthropology is empirical science par excellence.

The soul of the native is in his myths and rituals.

Marriage in the Trobriands is economic and social alliance.

Functionalism sees culture as a going concern.

The canoe is not just transport; it's a vessel of prestige.

Humanity's progress lies in understanding others.

Ritual is the dramatization of culture.

The chief's authority rests on generosity, not coercion.

Anthropology combats prejudice with facts.

Love in primitive society is passionate and free.

The theory of culture must be scientific and pragmatic.

Field diaries are the raw material of ethnography.

In the end, all cultures serve the same human ends.

The spell of the garden ensures fertility through belief.