“Americans often have trouble enjoying the present moment.”

I have a great advantage over many of my colleagues inasmuch as my students bring with them to class their own personal knowledge of national, regional, religious, ethnic, occupational, and family folklore traditions.

If a student takes the whole series of my folklore courses including the graduate seminars.

In my introductory course, Anthropology 160, the Forms of Folklore,

he or she should learn something about fieldwork, something about bibliography, something about how to carry out library research, and something about how to publish that research.

Future orientation is combined with a notion and expectation of progress, and nothing is impossible.

Polls are frequently taken to try to tease out or determine likely directions and trends, but once taken, they belong to the past, requiring that new polls be taken.

We can see that there is far too great an emphasis placed on the future.

Life, it seems, is nothing if not a series of initiations, transitions, and incorporations.

In the light of our culture, these are not unreasonable questions and tactics, but if once again, we try to see the lens through which we look.

Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

My academic identity is that of a folklorist, and for many years I have taught only folklore courses.

I mentioned that one of the tripartite formulas in American worldview involves time: past, present, and future.

Americans have a penchant for the future and tend to disregard the past.

Ancestor worship, or filial piety so characteristic of Asian cultures, for example, does not really resonate with Americans who favor children, not grandparents.

I try to show the students what the major and minor genres of folklore are, and how they can be analyzed.

Cities all over the world are getting bigger as more and more people move from rural to urban sites, but that has created enormous problems with respect to environmental pollution and the general quality of life.

Every intelligent being enjoys complexity.

Whether taking a shorter seven-day jaunt or combining several unique cruises to create the ultimate European exploration, luxury travelers will enjoy the grandeur of Europe and the warmth and luxury of the Crystal experience.

There is nothing to do except to be just who you are. You have the right to feel beautiful and enjoy it.

I get to work and enjoy that part of me, but then I have time to have a life and be with my kids.

Postmodern comedy doesn’t work well with very old audiences, because it’s making fun of the comedy they enjoy.

At that time, we turn around and say, yes, this is obviously where I was going all along. It’s a good idea to try to enjoy the scenery on the detours, because you’ll probably take a few.

I enjoy collaborating with other people.

I enjoy business. I enjoy inspiring women.