In place of science, the Eskimo has only magic to bridge the gap between what he can understand and what is not known. Without magic, his life would be one long panic.

Letters to the editors of English and American newspapers often contain expressions of horror about the new terms that creep into the language, and these expressions are usually accompanied by dire predictions about ruination of the mother tongue.

No child is capable of speech until he has heard other human beings speak, and even two infants reared together cannot develop a language from scratch.

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

People who speak the same language can hate one another as easily as can people who speak unrelated languages.

The environment does not determine man's culture; it merely sets the outer limits and at the same time offers opportunities.

Gestures and facial expressions do indeed communicate, as anyone can prove by turning off the sound on a television set and asking watchers to characterize the speakers from the picture alone.