Quotes from work
Totemism

Totemism

An examination of the beliefs encompassed by totemism.


Claude Lévi-Strauss photo

“We can understand, too, that natural species are chosen not because they are "good to eat" but because they are "good to think."”

Les espèces sont choisies non commes bonnes à manger, mais comme bonnes à penser.
Totemism (1962), [Le Totémisme aujourd'hui, as translated by Rodney Needham], p. 89
Often paraphrased as "Animals are good to think with".

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