Men in all societies possess the biological equipment to remove their hats or shoes, but it is the birth within a particular culture that decides that a Jew will keep his hat and shoes on in his place of worship, a Mohammedan will take off his shoes, and a Christian will keep his shoes on but remove his hat.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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