Marvin Harris was an American anthropologist known for his contributions to the field of cultural anthropology. His work, including books like "Cannibals and Kings" and "Cultural Materialism," explored the relationship between culture and material conditions. Harris's theories and research have had a significant impact on the study of human societies and cultural practices.

"I don't know of any cases where as a result of religious precepts a population have found themselves enjoying less food than they would have if they didn't follow this particular religion."



"The commandment 'Thou shalt not kill' does not say it's O.K. to kill some people and not others."



"But with the Industrial Revolution and introduction of various industrial techniques for purifying sugar, we have a situation in which what we are consuming is not good nutritionally or ecologically."



"The answer has to be sought in the material conditions of the production and utilization of cattle in India compared with the production and utilization of cattle in other parts of the world."



"Here you do have forests, where pigs could be raised by letting them root about in the forests for a good part of the year. Therefore, you have a different attitude toward them compared with what continues to exist in the Middle East."



"There are very important and practical issues raised by following this alternative route which says, let's look to material conditions, to the systems of production, to the needs that human beings have, and to competing alternative solutions to the satisfaction of those needs."



"The general proposition is that the resources that will be utilized are the ones that contribute most to the overall efficiency of the production system. The third parameter has to do with our commercial world, our search for profits."

