But, granting the numbers, the family group was just what it might have been at any time in almost any society—father, mother, and children, tightly … - George R. Stewart

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But, granting the numbers, the family group was just what it might have been at any time in almost any society—father, mother, and children, tightly grouped to form the basic social unit, so basic in fact that it might be considered biological rather than social. After all, he thought, the family was the toughest of all human institutions. It had preceded civilization, and so it naturally survived afterward.