Logan Pearsall Smith: Tampering with Money Taboos
on Wednesday, January 23, 2013Logan Pearsall Smith Money Quotation saying money makes many seem to be controlled by irrational forces that might be compared to sex drive, which is only controlled by societal taboos and then only in public. Logan Pearsall Smith said:
“Money and sex are forces too unruly for our reason; they can only be controlled by taboos which we tamper with at our peril” — Logan Pearsall Smith
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In this quote, Logan Pearsall Smith is discussing how money and sex are two very powerful drives or “forces” that are difficult for human reason and rational thinking to fully control on their own. He argues that societies establish “taboos” or social/cultural restrictions around money and sexuality as a way to place boundaries on these innate but potentially disruptive instincts.
Smith’s view is that if we disregard or undermine these taboos too much (“tamper with” them), it puts us at risk of being overwhelmed or harmed by unchecked desires for money/status or libidinal urges.
The quote conveys that some degree of social conditioning and norm-setting helps moderate our relationship with these primal yet unruly aspects of human nature, for better regulation than leaving them entirely to personal “reason”. So in essence, Smith sees taboos as serving an important regulating function for money and sex.
Birthday: October 18, 1865 – March 2, 1946