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Money and Class in America: Notes and Observations on the Civil Religion

Book by Lewis H. Lapham · 19 quotes · Might, Money, Rich

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Money and Class in America: Notes and Observations on the Civil Religion Quotes

“Let the rabbit of free enterprise out of its velveteen bag and too many people would have to be fired, too much idiocy exposed to the light of judgment or ridicule, too much vanity sacrificed to the fires of efficiency. Such a catastrophe obviously would threaten the American way of life, to say nothing of the belief in free markets.”

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Book:Money and Class in America: Notes and Observations on the Civil Religion
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“The playing field is more sacred than the stock exchange, more blessed than Capital Hill or the vaults of Fort Knox. The diamond and the gridiron -- and, to a lesser degree, the court, the rink, the track, and the ring -- embody the American dream of Eden.”

DreamFieldsDegreesBlessedSacredCourtTrackRingsHillsDiamondAmerican DreamEdenPlaying FieldsFortsVaultsStock ExchangeGridiron
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“As a child growing up in the precincts of wealth, and later as a college student, newspaper reporter and resident of New York's Upper East Side, I got used to listening to the talk of financial killings and sexual misalliance that animates the conversation of the rich and the familiars of the rich.”

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“It is no accident that banks resemble temples, preferably Greek, and that the supplicants who come to perform the rites of deposit and withdrawal instinctively lower their voices into the registers of awe. Even the most junior tellers acquire within weeks of their employment the officiousness of hierophants tending an eternal flame.”

VoiceWeekEternalAccidentsEmploymentGreekFlamesAcquireAweTemplesBankingJuniorsBankersRegisterRiteWithdrawalDepositsBankers And Banks
Book:Money and Class in America: Notes and Observations on the Civil Religion
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“We might make a public moan in the newspapers about the decay of conscience, but in private conversation, no matter what crimes a man may have committed or how cynically he may have debased his talent or his friends, variations on the answer Yes, but I did it for the money, satisfy all but the most tiresome objections.”

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“Among all the emotions, the rich have the least talent for love. It is possible to love one's dog, dress or duck-shooting hat, but a human being presents a more difficult problem. The rich might wish to experience feelings of affection, but it is almost impossible to chip away the enamel of their narcissism. They take up all the space in all the mirrors in the house. Their children, who represent the most present and therefore the most annoying claim on their attention, usually receive the brunt of their irritation.”

LoveHumansChildrenFeelingsProblemMightHouseWishDifficultHuman BeingsSpaceEmotionAttentionRichImpossibleTalentDogClaimsMirrorsDressesAffectionShootingHatsAnnoyingDucksNarcissismChipsIrritationDifficult Problems
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“The national distrust of the contemplative temperament arises less from an innate Philistinism than from a suspicion of anything that cannot be counted, stuffed, framed or mounted over the fireplace in the den.”

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“Seeing is believing, and if an American success is to count for anything in the world it must be clothed in the raiment of property. As often as not it isn't the money itself that means anything; it is the use of money as the currency of the soul.”

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