“Youth as glimpsed by its elders is a story that comes from afar, showing itself as either lovely to look at or a torment to endure.” LooksStoriesYouthEndureLovelyTormentEldersAfar Author:Lewis H. Lapham
“I sometimes think that the American story is the one about the reading of the will.” ThinkingSometimesStoriesAmericaReading Author:Lewis H. Lapham
“What joins the Americans one to another is not a common ancestry, language or race, but a shared work of the imagination that looks forward to the making of a future, not backward to the insignia of the past. Their enterprise is underwritten by a Constitution that allows for the widest horizons of sight and the broadest range of expression, supports the liberties of the people as opposed to the ambitions of the state, and stands as premise for a narrative rather than plan for an invasion or a monument. The narrative was always plural; not one story, many stories.” PeopleLooksStatesStoriesAmericaPastLanguageImaginationCommonRaceLibertySupportPlansExpressionAmbitionSightConstitutionNarrativeRangeEnterpriseHorizonMonumentInvasionPremisesAncestry Author:Lewis H. Lapham
“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
“History is not what happened 200 or 2,000 years ago; it's a story about what happened 200 or 2,000 years ago.” YearsStoriesHappenedYears Ago Author:Lewis H. Lapham
