I used to work very long hours. Then I started to realize that the stuff that I was writing in the late afternoons, I was generally throwing out. So I quit earlier than I used to.
Robert CaroRead
If you really want to show power in its larger aspects, you need to show the effects on the powerless, for good or ill - the human cost of public works. That's what I try to do, show not only how power works but its effect on people.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Power should be understood by its impact on the vulnerable; true accountability lies in seeing its human consequences.
In this quote, Robert Caro emphasizes that true power is not just about authority or control, but rather how that power affects those who are powerless. He believes that revealing the human cost of public works and decisions is vital to truly comprehending the nature of power. By focusing on the impact of power on individuals and communities, we can better understand its implications and responsibilities.
Themes
PowerImpactHuman CostPublic WorksAccountability
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about urban development, the quote can be used to highlight the importance of considering community impact.
More from Robert Caro
All quotes →Long Island is shaped the way it is largely because of Robert Moses. Long Island is a perfect example of how political power shapes people's lives every day.
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What would be the good of rushing? You want these books to last.
Robert CaroRead
I sometimes feel that if your book sells more than 20 years, then there's something in it that you can say, gee, I did something that endures, that's timeless
Robert CaroRead
It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. So for me, I would always have an excuse, you know, to go - quit early, go to a museum, you know. So I do everything I can to make myself remember this is a job. I keep a schedule.
Robert CaroRead
I am trying to make clear through my writing something which I believe: that biography- history in general- can be literature in the deepest and highest sense of that term.
Robert CaroRead
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I came to believe in a power much higher than I
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I'd be so fascinated to talk to a psychologist or sociologist about the deep psychological impact of seeing oneself represented. I don't think we've really touched the surface of what it does to the psyche of a people if the only image of you out there is negative. Or if it's never out there.
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Workers do not strike every day, they cannot do that the way they function in the capitalist economy. The way they have to live by selling their labor power makes that impossible.
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