Lewis Lapham: Acquires Meaning

Lewis Lapham Money Quote saying Money acquires it’s meaning from the uses to which it is put – for good or ill. Lewis Lapham said:
 

“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” — Lewis Lapham

Lewis Lapham seems to be making a few key points in this quote:

1. Money itself is neutral – it can be used to support a wide variety of causes, from socialist policies to monarchism, and fund both high art and atrocities.
2. Money derives its meaning from how it is spent and applied, not any inherent values of its own. Whether money supports good or ill in the world depends entirely on the choices of those controlling it.
3. By funding any and all activities, from art to war crimes, money highlights how it is human values and priorities, not money itself, that determine the impact of economic resources. Money will reflect and amplify the moral compass (or lack thereof) of its beneficiaries.

In short, Lapham appears to be arguing that money is a morally neutral tool whose consequences depend completely on the values and intentions of those directing its use. The quote calls attention to money’s flexibility rather than any fixed meaning or tendency on its own.

Birthday: January 8, 1935 – Death: July 23, 2024

Lewis Lapham: Incarnation of God

Lewis Lapham Money Quote saying that money is powerful force, like god incarnate. Lewis Lapham said:
 

 

“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” — Lewis Lapham

In this quote, Lewis Lapham is again emphasizing that money itself is morally neutral. He uses the metaphor of fire to suggest that money, like fire, air, water and earth, is a natural element or tool that is not inherently good or bad.

Lapham argues that while some may “dance around” money and treat it as if it were a god to be worshipped, the wiser approach is to understand that money is simply a tool that can be employed productively or destructively depending on how humans choose to use it.

Overall, the quote conveys Lapham’s view that money derives its meaning from human intentions and actions, not from any tendency or character of its own, and it is a mistake to ascribe money with moral qualities it does not possess.

Birthday: January 8, 1935 – Death: July 23, 2024

Lewis Lapham: Financing Civilization

Lewis H. Lapham Money Quotation saying our infrastructure requires understanding the financing of the heart and the core of our society. Lewis H. Lapham said:
 

 

“Money ranks as one of the primary materials with which mankind builds the architecture of civilization” — Lewis H Lapham

In this quote, Lewis Lapham is highlighting the important role that money plays in building human civilization and society. He refers to money as a “primary material” on par with other basic building blocks like wood, stone, steel, etc. that are used to literally and figuratively construct the world we inhabit.

Lapham’s point is that while money itself may be a human invention or abstraction, it has become a fundamental tool and resource that shapes everything from infrastructure and institutions to culture and social organization.

By enabling trade, specialization and complex economic interactions, money acts as a kind of social and economic glue that holds civilization together. So in short, Lapham is emphasizing money’s central importance as a building block of human communities and progress.

Birthday: January 8, 1935 – Death: July 23, 2024

Lewis Lapham: Poor Rich People

Lewis H. Lapham Money Quote saying believing you are rich doesn’t necessarily make it so – but being wealthy and feeling deprived makes it pointless. Lewis H. Lapham said:
 

 

“Never in the history of the world have so many people been so rich; never in the history of the world have so many of those same people felt themselves so poor” — Lewis H. Lapham

In this quote, Lewis Lapham is highlighting a paradox about wealth and economic conditions. On the one hand, objectively there have likely never been as many people with high levels of material wealth, resources, and income as in the modern era.

However, subjectively many people feel a sense of financial insecurity, anxiety, and poverty despite their relative wealth. Lapham appears to be suggesting that as standards of living rise and comparisons proliferate in society, it is easier for people to feel poor in comparison to even wealthier individuals or in light of economic uncertainties.

So while facts say wealth is widely distributed, feelings of insufficiency and scarcity still persist for many. Overall, the quote examines the disconnect between objective and subjective states of financial well-being.

Birthday: January 8, 1935 – Death: July 23, 2024