. . . 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
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the unique historical and cultural position of the United States, suggesting it is simultaneously at a pivotal moment in its development while also grappling with the challenges of modernity.
Gertrude Stein's quote articulates the paradox of the United States as a nation with a rich history that has influenced the course of civilization, particularly following the Civil War. While it is seen as 'old' enough to have established itself as a mother of modern civilization, it simultaneously faces the complexities and struggles inherent in contemporary society, suggesting a tension between historical legacy and current realities.
Themes
HistoryUnited StatesCivilizationModernityParadoxStruggle
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on American history, this quote can highlight the complexities of national identity.
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
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.
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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