. . . money . . . is really the difference between men and animals, most of the things men feel, animals feel, and vice versa, but animals do not know about money.
Gertrude SteinRead
I simply contend that the middle-class ideal which demands that people be affectionate, respectable, honest and content, that they avoid excitements and cultivate serenity is the ideal that appeals to me, it is in short the ideal of affectionate family life, of honorable business methods.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the value of a stable and content life that prioritizes family values and integrity.
Gertrude Stein asserts that the middle-class ideal, which emphasizes affection, respectability, honesty, and contentment, resonates deeply with her. She values a lifestyle characterized by a loving family environment and ethical business practices, suggesting that true fulfillment comes from cultivating serenity rather than pursuing constant excitement.
Themes
Middle-ClassAffectionContentmentSerenityFamilyHonesty
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used during a family gathering to emphasize the importance of kindness and respect.
More from Gertrude Stein
All quotes →The creator of the new composition in the arts is an outlaw until he is a classic.
Gertrude SteinRead
If the communication is perfect, the words have life, and that is all there is to good writing, putting down on the paper words which dance and weep and make love and fight and kiss and perform miracles.
Gertrude SteinRead
The United States is just now the oldest country in the world, there always is an oldest country and she is it, it is she who is the mother of the twentieth century civilization. She began to feel herself as it just after the Civil War. And so it is a country the right age to have been born in and the wrong age to live in.
Gertrude SteinRead
It is natural to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes to that siren until she allures us to our death.
Gertrude SteinRead
Anything one does every day is important and imposing and anywhere one lives is interesting and beautiful.
Gertrude SteinRead
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