Quotes by Mary Douglas - Page 1

Hierarchy works well in a stable environment.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Environment
Hierarchy
Stable
Wells
Works
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Hierarchy is is much reviled in the present day.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Hierarchy
Present Day
Reviled
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Any great organization can go through sectarian phases.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Great Organizations
Organization
Phases
Great Organization
Sectarian
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The human body is always treated as an image of society.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Body
Human Body
Treated
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An escalating, violent tit-for-tat may lead to terrorism.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Escalating
May
Terrorism
Violent
Lead
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Pretensions to moral superiority are devastatingly destructive.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Destructive
Moral
Moral Superiority
Pretension
Superiority
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Islam is in principle egalitarian, and has always had problems with power.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Egalitarianism
Islam
Principles
Egalitarian
Principle
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When we are reflecting on terrorism we can grieve for many things we do and have done.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Done
Grieving
Reflecting
Terrorism
Grieve
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If you want to change the culture, you will have to start by changing the organization.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Change
Smile
Culture
Organization
Want
Will
Changing
Start
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It's unlikely that the organized religions will get more sectarian... or is it? I am not at all sure.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Organized
Organized Religion
Unlikely
I Am Will More
Religions
Sectarian
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It seems true that the growth of science and secularism made organized Christianity feel under threat.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Christian
Christianity
Growth
Made
Organized
Secularism
Threat
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I have increasingly, over the years, felt that religion today does our civilization more harm than good.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Civilization
Doe
Harm
Years
Increasingly
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Inequality can have a bad downside, but equality, for its part, sure does get in the way of coordination.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Equality
Coordination
Doe
Inequality
Way
Downside
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I am convinced that living in an enclave shapes the personality, and living alone shapes the personality too.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Living Alone
Personality
Shapes
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Institutions have the pathetic megalomania of the computer whose whole vision of the world is its own program.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Computer
Vision
World
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Where there is dirt there is system. Dirt is the byproduct of a systematic ordering and classification of matter.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Dirt
Matter
Systematic
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The history of the Church of Rome is a constant leakage of members into such breakaway cults, which go on splitting.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Church
Constant
Goes On
Members
Rome
Splitting
Cults
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Without that assured American largesse Israel would have been obliged to come to an accommodation with her neighbours.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Assured
Largesse
Obliged
Accommodation
Neighbours
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If people want to compete for leadership of a religious group, they can compete in piety. A chilling thought. Or funny.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Leadership
Competition
People
Piety
Religious
Chilling
Compete
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Enclave life becomes very tense, Even when they do elect a leader, the factions remain, with the threat of splitting off.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Factions
Leader
Splitting
Tense
Elect
Remain
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Some scholars have been arguing that a civilizational clash between organized religions is the next step in human history.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Arguing
Clash
Human History
Next
Organized
Steps
Religions
Next Step
Scholars
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It is very reasonable to worry about the harm done by organized religion, and to prefer looser and more private arrangements.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Arrangements
Done
Harm
Organized
Organized Religion
Reasonable
Recycling
Worry
Prefer
Looser
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Since 1970, relationships can be more volatile, jobs more ephemeral, geographical mobility more intensified, stability of marriage weaker.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Jobs
Ephemeral
Mobility
Stability
Geographical
Intensified
Relationships
Volatile
Weaker
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What did our nation ever do to provoke these madly vicious enemies? What is seen as injustice in one place is seen as just requital in the other.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Injustice
Vicious
Enemies
Madly
Provoke
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I am sure it must be true that people opt out of the mainstream society because they feel that there are going to be no rewards for them, if they stay.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Mainstream
Mainstream Society
People
Rewards
Society I Am People
Be True
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Behind a leader there must be followers, but they should always be on the lookout for the main chance and ready to change sides if the current leader doesn't deliver.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Leadership
Followers
Leader
Ready
Sides
Current
Deliver
Lookout
Main
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Yes, disappointment over perceived unfairness, injustice, promises not kept, tends to go hand in hand with increasing prosperity. Expectations are dashed. What can I say!
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Disappointment
Expectations
Hands
Injustice
Unfairness
Dashed
Hand
Increasing
Perceived
Promises
Tends
Yes
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The theory of cultural bias... is the idea that a culture is based on a particular form of organization. It can't be transplanted except to another variant of that organization.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Bias
Ideas
Organization
Particular
Prejudice
Theory
Cultural
Except
Transplanted
Variant
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Just in our lifetime our society has become looser and more private, it becomes extremely difficult to hold to any permanent commitment whatever, least of all to organized religion.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Commitment
Lifetime
Organized
Organized Religion
Our Society
Permanent
Extremely
Looser
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It is only partly true that religion does more harm than good in society. The community makes God into the image it wants, vengeful, or milky sweet, or scrupulously just, and so on.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Community
Doe
Harm
Sweet
Vengeful
Partly
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Our technological infrastructure alienates us from each other. No need to form a workplace community, everybody there will be out in a year or two, and so will you, looking for a better place.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Better Place
Infrastructure
Safety
Two
Workplace
Years
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The natural response of the old-timers is to build a strong moral wall against the outside. This is where the world starts to be painted in black and white, saints inside, and sinners outside the wall.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Black And White
Moral
Response
Strong
Wall
Black And White World Black
World Black White
Painted
Saints
Sinners
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Every year the progress of advanced capitalist society makes our population consist of more and more isolates. This is because of the infrastructure of the economy, especially electronic communications.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Communication
Capitalist
Infrastructure
Population
Progress
Years
Advanced
Capitalist Society
Communications
Consist
Electronic
More And More
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Mormons... are so strong, they can handle wealth, they are confident. I think it is because they are not bogged down by rules for equality, but have a firmly defined system of relative status and responsible command.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Equality
Defined
Handle
Relative
Strong
Thinking
Wealth
Rules
Confident
Bogged
Firmly
Mormons
Status
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Inside a religious body you get sects and hierarchies, inside an information network you get bazaars and cathedrals, it is the same, call them what you like. They survive by pointing the finger of blame at each other.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Bazaars
Blame
Body
Cathedrals
Information
Pointing
Religious
Inside
Finger
Hierarchies
Network
Survive
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Real equality is immensely difficult to achieve, it needs continual revision and monitoring of distributions. And it does not provide buffers between members, so they are continually colliding or frustrating each other.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Equality
Achieve
Difficult
Doe
Frustrated
Frustrating
Members
Monitoring
Needs
Real
Revision
Continually
Immensely
Provide
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Religion can make it worse. Are you supposing that if people were encouraged to believe in a transcendent reality, and to be encouraged by grand rituals and music and preaching, to love their neighbors, then they would put jealousy and frustration aside?
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Jealousy
Believe
Frustration
Preaching
Reality
Supposing
Transcendent
Love Religion Music
Aside
Encouraged
Grand
Rituals
Neighbors
To Love
Worse
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Without the letters of condolence, telegrams of congratulations and even occasional postcards, the friendship of a separated friend is not a social reality. It has no existence without the rites of friendship. Social rituals create a reality which would be nothing without them.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Condolences
Congratulations
Reality
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If we can abstract pathogenicity and hygiene from our notion of dirt, we are left with the old definition of dirt as matter out of place. This is a very suggestive approach. It implies two conditions: a set of ordered relations and a contrevention of that order. Dirt then, is never a unique, isolated event. Where there is dirt there is a system. Dirt is the by-product of a systematic ordering and classification of matter, in so far as ordering involves rejecting inappropriate elements.
Mary Douglas / Anthropologist
Hygiene
Order
Unique
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Mary Douglas Quotes - Page 1

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