“The '80s were about acquiring — acquiring wealth, power, prestige. I know. I acquired more wealth, power, and prestige than most. But you can acquire all you want and still feel empty. What power wouldn't I trade for a little more time with my family? What price wouldn't I pay for an evening with friends? It took a deadly illness to put me eye to eye with that truth, but it is a truth that the country, caught up in its ruthless ambitions and moral decay, can learn on my dime. I don't know who will lead us through the '90s, but they must be made to speak to this spiritual vacuum at the heart of American society, this tumor of the soul.”

—  Lee Atwater

Source: Interview in Life (January 1991)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The '80s were about acquiring — acquiring wealth, power, prestige. I know. I acquired more wealth, power, and prestige …" by Lee Atwater?
Lee Atwater photo
Lee Atwater 2
American political consultant and strategist 1951–1991

Related quotes

Ralph Waldo Emerson photo
Bell Hooks photo

“As more and more women acquired prestige, fame, or money from by the ruling capitalist patriarchy.”

Source: Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center (1984), Chapter 1: Black Women: Shaping Feminist Theory, p. 7.

Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
George Long photo
Bertrand Russell photo
Dinesh D'Souza photo
Sherrilyn Kenyon photo

“Don't worry, Otto. I'm an acquired taste. Most of my best friends had to know me for years before they could even stand my presence. I'm like mold, I usually grow on you very slowly. (Tabitha)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Variant: she said with a smile. "I'm an acquired taste. Most of my best friends had to
know me for years before they could even stand my presence. I'm like mold, I usually grow on you very
slowly.
Source: Seize the Night

Nicholas Barr photo

“By 'trading' (i. e. pooling), individuals can acquire certainty.”

Nicholas Barr (1943) British economist

Source: Economics Of The Welfare State (Fourth Edition), Chapter 5, Insurance, p. 105

George Long photo

“It is an undoubted truth that, if a thing is not learned well, there is more harm done than good acquired.”

George Long (1800–1879) English classical scholar

An Old Man's Thoughts on Many Things, Of Education I

David Lloyd George photo

“When I talk about trade and industry, it is not because I think trade and industry are more important than social reform. It is purely because I know that you must make wealth in the country before you can distribute it.”

David Lloyd George (1863–1945) Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Speech in Manchester (21 April 1908), quoted in Better Times: Speeches by the Right Hon. D. Lloyd George, M.P., Chancellor of the Exchequer (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1910), p. 46.
Chancellor of the Exchequer

Related topics