A complex society is not necessarily more advanced than a simple one; it has just adapted to conditions in a more complicated way.

Native speakers of a language know intuitively whether a sentence is grammatical or not. They usually cannot specify exactly what is wrong, and very possibly they make the same mistakes in their own speech, but they know-unconsciously, not as a set of rules they learned in school-when a sentence is incorrect.

Food to a large extent is what holds a society together, and eating is closely linked to deep spiritual experiences.

Speakers who have grown up in the American community unconsciously know its rules about taking turns in conversations-in the same way that they know the rules of grammar and the rules about appropriate speech in various situations.

A complex society is not necessarily more advanced than a simple one; it has just adapted to conditions in a more complicated way.

At every moment of his life the Shoshone must be careful to observe the complicated folkways of his group, to do reverence to superhuman powers, to remember the courtesies and obligations of family, to pay homage to certain sacred plants, or to avoid particular places.

An invention or new combination can be successful only if all if the elements necessary for the recombination are present in the culture.