Daily Inspiration Quote by George H. Mead

Mead turns a tiny bodily reflex into a miniature history of civilization: first superstition, then etiquette, and finally the modern impulse to retrofit the past with respectable motives. The line is funny in a dry, professorial way, but the target is serious. He’s not really interested in yawning; he’s interested in how societies launder origins. What begins as fear of “evil spirits” gets recoded as “delicacy of manner,” as if politeness were the natural, timeless reason for the gesture rather than the latest story we tell ourselves.

The subtext is a critique of rationalization. Mead sketches a cultural sleight of hand: we inherit practices, forget why they started, then supply an explanation that flatters our current self-image. Etiquette becomes a mask that hides the improvisational, anxious, half-magical roots of social life. That’s why “We find a reason” lands with a faintly sardonic emphasis. The “reason” is discovered after the fact, not present at the birth.

Contextually, this fits Mead’s larger project in social psychology: the self isn’t a private essence but a product of social interaction, with norms sedimenting over time until they feel like common sense. The gesture is a fossil of collective life. Mead’s neat contrast between demons and “indecent exposure” shows how control migrates: from guarding the soul against outside invasion to managing the body’s presentation to others. What changes isn’t just belief; it’s the audience. The spirits exit, the public remains.