The 'working poor,' as they are approvingly termed, are in fact the major philanthropists of our society.
Barbara EhrenreichRead
The media have just buried the last yuppie, a pathetic creature who had not heard the news that the great pendulum of public consciousness has just swung from Greed to Compassion and from Tex-Mex to meatballs
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the shift in societal values from materialism to compassion.
Barbara Ehrenreich's quote captures a moment of societal transition where the focus of public consciousness is shifting away from greed and consumerism, symbolized by the 'yuppie', towards an emphasis on compassion and care for others. This shift indicates a broader change in priorities among people, suggesting a move toward valuing relationships and empathy over material success or consumer trends.
Themes
GreedCompassionSocietyPublic ConsciousnessValues
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about corporate responsibility, one might use this quote to highlight the importance of compassion over profit.
More from Barbara Ehrenreich
All quotes →The secret of the truly successful, I believe, is that they learned very early in life how not to be busy. They saw through that adage, repeated to me so often in childhood, that anything worth doing is worth doing well. The truth is, many things are worth doing only in the most slovenly, halfhearted fashion possible, and many other things are not worth doing at all.
Barbara EhrenreichRead
From the point of view of the pharmaceutical industry, the AIDS problem has already been solved. After all, we already have a drug which can be sold at the incredible price of $8,000 an annual dose, and which has the added virtue of not diminishing the market by actually curing anyone.
Barbara EhrenreichRead
Well I do think there are people who are habitually negative and depressed and take the opposite approach because they imagine the worst, and their minds become dominated by that. They let their own emotions and expectations transform their perceptions of the world.
Barbara EhrenreichRead
Some of us still get all weepy when we think about the Gaia Hypothesis, the idea that earth is a big furry goddess-creature who resembles everybody's mom in that she knows what's best for us. But if you look at the historical record - Krakatoa, Mt. Vesuvius, Hurricane Charley, poison ivy, and so forth down the ages - you have to ask yourself: Whose side is she on, anyway?
Barbara EhrenreichRead
I would never call myself a cancer survivor because I think it devalues those who do not survive. There's this whole mythology that people bravely battle their cancer and then they become survivors. Well, the ones who don't survive may be just as brave, you know, just as courageous, wonderful people.
Barbara EhrenreichRead
Similar quotes
The absence of the will to live is, alas, not sufficient to make one want to die.
Michel HouellebecqRead
I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so."
Abraham LincolnRead
All man's troubles come from not knowing how to sit still in one room.
Blaise PascalRead
There are two sorts of truth: trivialities, where opposites are clearly absurd, and profound truths, recognised by the fact that the opposite is also a profound truth
Niels BohrRead
Human rights is the only ideology that deserves to survive
Simon WiesenthalRead
Here on earth, God's work must surely be our own.
John F. KennedyRead