What is the source of the Never doubt… quote?
Although the Institute has received many inquiries about this famous admonition by Margaret Mead, we have been unable to locate when and where it was first cited, becoming a motto for many organizations and movements. We believe it probably came into circulation through a newspaper report of something said spontaneously and informally. We know, however, that it was firmly rooted in her professional work and that it reflected a conviction that she expressed often, in different contexts and phrasings. Mead s fullest exploration of cultural transmission and of the place of small groups in cultural change and innovation was in Continuities in Cultural Evolution, first published in 1964. Appropriately, the reissue of this book was one of the first goals of the Mead2001 celebration, and it has now been brought out by Transaction Publishers with a new introduction by Stephen Toulmin setting it in the context of contemporary evolutionary thinking. The “Never doubt” challenge is sometimes quote
