--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: From being a dream, dams have become a…" description: "\"From being a dream, dams have become a very cynical corrupt enterprise; a way of letting governments lay their hands on huge sums of money; a way of ce..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df1/arundhati-roy-346_business_from-being-a-dream-dams-have-become-a-ve_751065.jpg" --- # From being a dream, dams have become a very cynical… ![“From being a dream, dams have become a very cynical corrupt enterprise; a way of letting governments lay their hands on huge sums of money; a way of centralizing resources; a way of snatching rivers away from the poor and giving them to the rich. And so in a sense they've become monuments to…” quote by Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df1/arundhati-roy-346_business_from-being-a-dream-dams-have-become-a-ve_751065.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df1/arundhati-roy-346_business_from-being-a-dream-dams-have-become-a-ve_751065.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df1/arundhati-roy-346_business_from-being-a-dream-dams-have-become-a-ve_751065.jpg) > “From being a dream, dams have become a very cynical corrupt enterprise; a way of letting governments lay their hands on huge sums of money; a way of centralizing resources; a way of snatching rivers away from the poor and giving them to the rich. And so in a sense they've become monuments to corruption.” [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Large dams often become tools of corruption, diverting resources from the poor to the wealthy, turning infrastructure into symbols of exploitation. **In simple terms:** Dams can exploit the poor for profit. Key Takeaway Question the motives behind large water projects. Themes environment politics social justice corruption development Mood concerned analytical urgent Type political environmental When to use this quote - government planning - community activism - legal challenges Key Concepts resource allocation power dynamics public policy Questions to Reflect On - What safeguards can prevent misuse of dam projects? - How can affected communities have a voice? A Different Perspective Not all dams are corrupt; some provide essential services. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Corruption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corruption/) [Cynical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynical/) [Dams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dams/) [Dams Cynical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dams-cynical-5842888/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dream Dams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream-dams-5842889/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Enterprise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enterprise/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands/) [Huge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/huge/) [Lays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lays/) [Letting go](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/letting-go/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Monument](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monument/) [Monuments Corruption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monuments-corruption-5842890/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Poor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor/) [Resources](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resources/) [Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rich/) [Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rivers/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [The great monuments are raised up like dams, pitting the logic of majesty and authority against all the shady elements: it is in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/the-great-monuments-are-raised-up-like-dams-pitting-the-logic-of/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [Dams are the temples of secular India and almost worshipped. 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Only through curiosity can we discover opportunities, and only by gambling can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/go-around-asking-a-lot-of-dam-fool-questions-and-taking-chances-only/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When dams were erected on the Columbia, salmon battered themselves against the concrete, trying to return home. I expect no less from us. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/when-dams-were-erected-on-the-columbia-salmon-battered-themselves/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [All this piling up of one technology on top of another-railroad on steamboat, interstate highway on railroad, hydroelectric dam on watermill-had reduced the Mississippi…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-raban/all-this-piling-up-of-one-technology-on-top-of-another-railroad-on/) [Jonathan Raban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-raban/) > [Never give up; for even rivers someday wash dams away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-golden/never-give-up-for-even-rivers-someday-wash-dams-away/) [Arthur Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-golden/) > [I started inventing things, and then I couldn't stop, like beavers, which I know about. 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