The private control of credit is the modern form of slavery.
Upton SinclairRead
If we are the greatest nation the sun ever shone upon, it would seem to be mainly because we have been able to goad our wage-earners to this pitch of frenzy.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that the greatness of a nation is tied to the intense drive and effort of its workers.
Upton Sinclair's quote reflects on the relationship between national greatness and the work ethic of its wage-earners. It implies that the vigor and passion of those who earn wages contribute significantly to the overall prosperity and status of a nation, highlighting the importance of labor in defining a nation's character and success.
Themes
NationGreatnessWorkersLaborEffort
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about hard work and perseverance in the workplace.
More from Upton Sinclair
All quotes →Human beings suffer agonies, and their sad fates become legends; poets write verses about them and playwrights compose dramas, and the remembrance of past grief becomes a source of present pleasure - such is the strange alchemy of the spirit.
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I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.
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And as for other men, who worked in tank-rooms full of steam, and in some of which there were open vats near the level of the floor, their peculiar trouble was that they fell into the vats; and when they were fished out, there was never enough of them left to be worth exhibiting,-sometimes they would be overlooked for days, till all but the bones of them had gone out into the world as Durham's Pure Leaf Lard! This contributed to the passing of the Pure Food Act of 1906.
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Fascism is capitalism plus murder.
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The old wanderlust had gotten into his blood, the joy of the unbound life, the joy of seeking, of hoping without limit.
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