“When Paul thought about his effortless rise in the hierarchy, he sometimes, as now, felt sheepish, like a charlatan. He could handle his assignments all right, but he didn’t have what his father had, what Kroner had, what Shepherd had, what so many had: the sense of spiritual importance in what they were doing; the ability to be moved emotionally, almost like a lover, by the great omnipresent and omniscient spook, the corporate personality. In short, what Paul missed was what made his father aggressive and great: the capacity to really give a damn.”
Source: Player Piano (1952), Chapter 6 (pp. 66-67)
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Kurt Vonnegut 318
American writer 1922–2007Related quotes
James Samuel Coleman; as cited in: Wilbur Schramm, The Beginnings of Communication Study in America: A Personal Memoir 1998, p. 63; About Paul Lazarsfeld.
'On Auden's Death'
Essays and reviews, At the Pillars of Hercules (1979)
Source: Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

Song lyrics, Never for Ever (1980)
Source: The Chocolate War (1974), p. 235-236