“Rumors and reports of man's relation with animals are the world's oldest news stories, headlined in the stars of the zodiac, posted on the walls of prehistoric caves, inscribed in the languages of Egyptian myth, Greek philosophy, Hindu religion, Christian art, our own DNA. Belonging within the circle of mankind's intimate acquaintance ... constant albeit speechless companions, they supplied energies fit to be harnessed or roasted.” MenWorldArtPhilosophyStoriesChristianEnergyLanguageStarsAnimalMankindWallFitNewsRelationConstantMythCirclesGreekIntimateReportsCompanionBelongingCavesDnaAcquaintanceRumorEgyptianSpeechlessReligion ChristianPrehistoricZodiacNews StoriesHindu ReligionGreek PhilosophyChristian Art Author:Lewis H. Lapham
“Money is like fire, an element as little troubled by moralizing as earth, air and water. Men can employ it as a tool or they can dance around it as if it were the incarnation of a god. Money votes socialist or monarchist, finds a profit in pornography or translations from the Bible, commissions Rembrandt and underwrites the technology of Auschwitz. It acquires its meaning from the uses to which it is put.” IfsMenLittlesUseEarthWaterMoneyTechnologyFireAirElementsToolsVoteProfitAcquireSocialistPornographyTranslationsIncarnationAuschwitzAir And WaterMoralizing Author:Lewis H. Lapham
“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.” MenMayMatterMightAnswersMoneyTalentCrimeConversationConscienceNo Matter WhatCommittedNewspapersDecayVariationObjectionsTiresome Book:Money and Class in America: Notes and Observations on the Civil Religion Source: Money and Class in America: Notes and Observations on the Civil Religion
“Whether lawyer, politician or executive, the American who knows what's good for his career seeks an institutional rather than an individual identity. He becomes the man from NBC or IBM. The institutional imprint furnishes him with pension, meaning, proofs of existence. A man without a company name is a man without a country.” KnowsMenCountryNamesIndividualExistenceCompanyCareersIdentityHe ManPoliticianInstitutionsProofLawyerExecutivesPensionNbcIbm Author:Lewis H. Lapham
“A certain kind of rich man afflicted with the symptoms of moral dandyism sooner or later comes to the conclusion that it isn't enough merely to make money. He feels obliged to hold views, to espouse causes and elect Presidents, to explain to a trembling world how and why the world went wrong.” MenWorldFeelsKindEnoughCertainCausesPresidentViewsMoneyMoralRichConclusionComicMaking MoneySooner Or LaterSymptomsObligedTremblingRich ManDandyism Author:Lewis H. Lapham
