One of the little-celebrated powers of Presidents (and other high government officials) is to listen to their critics with just enough sympathy to ensure their silence.
John Kenneth GalbraithRead
Of all classes the rich are the most noticed and the least studied.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The wealthy are often the focus of attention but rarely examined in depth regarding their impact on society.
This quote by John Kenneth Galbraith suggests that while the rich attract significant attention and admiration, there is a lack of critical analysis about their behaviors, motivations, and the consequences of their wealth. It highlights a societal tendency to idealize wealth without questioning the structures and dynamics that sustain inequality and privilege.
Themes
WealthSocietyAttentionAnalysisInequality
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on economic disparities, this quote can highlight the superficial focus on the rich in societal debates.
More from John Kenneth Galbraith
All quotes βIf all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
John Kenneth GalbraithRead
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.
John Kenneth GalbraithRead
All successful revolutions are the kicking in of a rotten door.
John Kenneth GalbraithRead
Money differs from an automobile or mistress in being equally important to those who have it and those who do not.
John Kenneth GalbraithRead
People of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage.
John Kenneth GalbraithRead
Similar quotes
There is, in fact, nothing about religious opinions that entitles them to any more respect than other opinions get. On the contrary, they tend to be noticeably silly.
H. L. MenckenRead
Suppose you were the last one left? Suppose you did that to yourself?
Cormac MccarthyRead
For many centuries, even thousands of years, patriotism worked quite well. Of course, it led to wars an so forth, but we shouldn't focus too much on the bad.
Yuval Noah HarariRead
To make Christianity a private affair while banishing all privacy is to relegate it to the rainbow's end or the Greek Calends.
C. S. LewisRead
The less I have, the freer I am to do whatever I want to do.
Lauryn HillRead
Hypocrisy means deliberately pretending. None of us lives up to his ideals; none of us is all that he would like to be or all that he could be in Christ. But that is not hypocrisy. Falling short of our ideals is not hypocrisy. Pretending we have reached our ideals when we have not - that is hypocrisy.
Warren W. WiersbeRead