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Lewis H. Lapham Quotes

Writer

Lewis H. Lapham is an American writer born on January 8, 1935. He is known for his distinctive literary style and profound insights into American society and politics.

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Famous Lewis H. Lapham Quotes

“Democracy is a difficult art of government, demanding of its citizens high ratios of courage and literacy, and at the moment we lack both the necessary habits of mind and a sphere of common reference.”

Mind Art Moments Government Difficult Common Democracy Habit Citizens Spheres Literacy Ratios Habits Of Mind

Book:Waiting for the Barbarians

Source: Waiting for the Barbarians

“The gentlemen who wrote the Constitution were as suspicious of efficient government as they were wary of democracy, a "turbulence and a folly" that was associated with the unruly ignorance of an urban mob.”

Government Democracy Ignorance Constitution Gentleman Folly Efficient Urban Suspicious Turbulence Unruly

Book:Waiting for the Barbarians

Source: Waiting for the Barbarians

“Dissent is what rescues democracy from a quiet death behind closed doors.”

Behinds Democracy Doors Quiet Rescue Dissent Closed Doors Behind Closed Doors

Book:Gag Rule: On the Suppression of Dissent and the Stifling of Democracy

Source: Gag Rule: On the Suppression of Dissent and the Stifling of Democracy

“Democracy is born in dirt, nourished by the digging up and turning over as much of it as can be brought within reach of a television camera or subpoena.”

Born Democracy Television Cameras Dirt Digging Within Reach Subpoenas

Author:Lewis H. Lapham

“The practice of our democracy depends on a sense of, and knowledge of, history in the same way that playing in the World Series requires a bat and a ball.”

World Way Practice Democracy Depends Balls Series Bats World Series

Author:Lewis H. Lapham

“The genius of capitalism consists precisely in its lack of morality. Unless he is rich enough to hire his own choir, a capitalist is a fellow who, by definition, can ill afford to believe in anything other than the doctrine of the bottom line. Deprive a capitalist of his God-given right to lie and cheat and steal, and the poor sap stands a better than even chance of becoming one of the abominable wards of the state from whose grimy fingers the Reagan Administration hopes to snatch the ark of democracy.”

“The survival of American democracy depends less on the size of its armies than on the capacity of its individual citizens to rely... on the strength of their own thought.”

Individual Democracy Strength Depends Citizens Survival Capacity Army Size Rely American Democracy

Book:Gag Rule: On the Suppression of Dissent and the Stifling of Democracy

Source: Gag Rule: On the Suppression of Dissent and the Stifling of Democracy

About the Author

Born: January 8, 1935
Known for: Writer
Quotes: 92

Books & Sources

Money and Class in America: Notes and Observations on the Civil ReligionRelated source material

Waiting for the BarbariansRelated source material

Gag Rule: On the Suppression of Dissent and the Stifling of DemocracyRelated source material

High Technology and Human FreedomRelated source material

Hotel America: Scenes in the Lobby of the Fin-de-siècleRelated source material

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