“It seems to be a law of American life that whatever enriches us anywhere except in the wallet inevitably becomes uneconomic.”

—  Russell Baker

Letter to the editor [untitled], The New York Times (1968-03-24)

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 "It seems to be a law of American life that whatever enriches us anywhere except in the wallet inevitably becomes unecon…" by Russell Baker?
Russell Baker photo
Russell Baker40
writer and satirst from the United States 1925–2019

Related quotes

“Life can be explained for the most part in terms of natural laws. The causes of suffering, pain then become plainer. Man should strive to enrich as much as possible life. To make himself an important tool in the general progress of mankind.”

Virgil John Tangborn (1920–1944)

March 26, 1942

Thomas Jefferson photo

“If once the people become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, Judges and Governors, shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature, in spite of individual exceptions.”

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) 3rd President of the United States of America

Anton Chekhov photo

“It seems to me that all of the evil in life comes from idleness, boredom, and psychic emptiness, but all of that is inevitable when you become accustomed to living at others’ expense.”

Anton Chekhov book My Life

My Life (1896)

Bruce Springsteen photo

“Is it a gun, is it a knife?
Is it a wallet, this is your life?
It ain't no secret,
It ain't no secret,
No secret my friend.
You can get killed just for living
In your American skin.”

Bruce Springsteen (1949) American singer and songwriter

"American Skin"
Song lyrics, High Hopes (2014)

Christopher Reeve photo

“So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.”

Christopher Reeve (1952–2004) actor, director, producer, screenwriter

Speech at the Democratic National Convention (26 August 1996) http://www.chrisreevehomepage.com/sp-dnc1996.html

Edward Jenks photo

“The process of specialization tends, almost inevitably, to narrow the sources from which the rules of any science are drawn; and English law is no exception from this rule.”

Edward Jenks (1861–1939) British legal scholar

Source: A Short History Of The English Law (First Edition) (1912), Chapter XIII, Modern Authorities And The Legal Profession, p. 185

Madison Grant photo

“The law of 1790 providing that no one could become a citizen of the United States except free Whites was the law until the aftermath of the Civil War added the word "black" or "of African descent" to those who could be naturalized. This last provision should be repealed and the blacks with the South American and Central American Indians put on the same footing as the Orientals.”

Madison Grant (1865–1937) American lawyer, eugenicist, and conservationist

The Conquest of a Continent (1933)

Luciano Suriani photo

“I believe that diversity should be a mutual gift, enriching interpersonal and social relationships, opening minds and hearts to those who are different. Yet if we place too much emphasis on what distinguishes us, then peculiarities and nationalisms inevitably resurface, with the consequence that differences become obstacles or, even worse, walls. A Christian, the word itself indicates, even before belonging to a nation, belongs to Christ, who gave his life for us.”

Luciano Suriani (1957) Vatican archbishop and diplomat

Source: Archbishop Luciano Suriani: History Calls Us To Overcome Divisions https://cordmagazine.com/interview/archbishop-luciano-suriani-history-calls-us-to-overcome-divisions/ (31 August 2020)

Sir Alexander Cockburn, 12th Baronet photo

“Although the decisions of the American Courts are of course not binding on us, yet the sound and enlightened views of American lawyers in the administration and development of the law—a law, except so far as altered by statutory enactment, derived from a common source with our own—entitle their decisions to the utmost respect and confidence on our part.”

Sir Alexander Cockburn, 12th Baronet (1802–1880) Lord Chief Justice

Scaramanga v. Stamp (1880), L. R. 5 Com. PI. Div. 303.

Wyndham Lewis photo

“The art of advertisement, after the American manner, has introduced into all our life such a lavish use of superlatives, that no standard of value whatever is intact.”

Wyndham Lewis (1882–1957) writer and painter

"'Promise' as an Institution", in The Doom of Youth (London: Chatto & Windus, 1932).

Related topics