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About this quote

What does it mean?
Mead emphasizes that small, dedicated groups are the primary drivers of historical change.
In plain terms
Small groups of committed people can change the world.
What can you take from it?
Dedicated small groups drive change.

Where it applies

  • starting movements
  • local organizing
  • volunteering

Putting it to work

  • join a cause
  • organize locally
  • stay committed

Questions to consider

  • What change do you want to see?
  • Who will you gather with?

Another view

Large structures often resist change regardless of small group efforts.

More from Margaret Mead

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  2. No matter how many communes anybody invents, the family always creeps back.

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  3. Man's most human characteristic is not his ability to learn, which he shares with many other species, but his ability to teach and store what others have devel…

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