E. E. Evans-Pritchard

The Nuer are a people who have no government, no laws, no police, no courts, and no prisons. They are, in short, an anarchic society.

Witchcraft, oracles, and magic are not a jumble of mistaken beliefs, but a coherent system of thought.

Anthropology is less a subject than a method.

The anthropologist must be a man of two cultures, able to move with ease in both.

The problem of understanding a foreign culture is not merely one of translation, but of interpretation.

We cannot understand a people's religion without understanding their social life, and we cannot understand their social life without understanding their religion.

The Nuer have no word for 'time' in the abstract sense, but they have a rich vocabulary for expressing temporal relations.

The anthropologist's task is to make the exotic familiar and the familiar exotic.

The Nuer are a proud and independent people, who value their freedom above all else.

To understand a society, one must live in it, speak its language, and participate in its daily life.

The study of primitive societies can illuminate the fundamental principles of human social organization.

The Nuer conceive of God as a spirit who is both immanent and transcendent.

The anthropologist must be a detached observer, but also an empathetic participant.

The Nuer's political system is based on a balance of power between segments of society.

Witchcraft is not a separate sphere of thought, but is interwoven with all aspects of Azande life.

The anthropologist's greatest challenge is to avoid imposing his own cultural categories on the people he studies.

The Nuer have a strong sense of collective identity, based on kinship and shared territory.

Religion is not merely a set of beliefs, but a way of life.

The study of social structure is the core of social anthropology.

The Azande do not think that witchcraft is an abnormal phenomenon, but a normal occurrence.