I had a hard time convincing students that they were going to North Africa to understand the North Africans, not to understand themselves.

I don't have the notion that everybody has to write in some single academic style

If I remember correctly, a writer is someone who wants to convey information. Language or writing is a code

I'm an inveterate fox and not a hedgehog, so I always think you should try everything

The North African mule talks always of his mother's brother, the horse, but never of his father, the donkey, in favor of others supposedly more reputable.

I think what's known about neurology is still scattered and uncertain

Cultural analysis is intrinsically incomplete. And, worse than that, the more deeply it goes the less complete it is.