--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Larry Summers, I think, he had a long…" description: "\"Larry Summers, I think, he had a long history of arrogance and relative ignorance about poor people's culture and working people's culture and so forth..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/644/cornel-west-708_arrogance_larry-summers-i-think-he-had-a-long-hist_91350.jpg" --- # Larry Summers, I think, he had a long history of arrogance… ![“Larry Summers, I think, he had a long history of arrogance and relative ignorance about poor people's culture and working people's culture and so forth.” quote by Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/644/cornel-west-708_arrogance_larry-summers-i-think-he-had-a-long-hist_91350.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/644/cornel-west-708_arrogance_larry-summers-i-think-he-had-a-long-hist_91350.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/644/cornel-west-708_arrogance_larry-summers-i-think-he-had-a-long-hist_91350.jpg) > “Larry Summers, I think, he had a long history of arrogance and relative ignorance about poor people's culture and working people's culture and so forth.” [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Critique of elite attitudes toward marginalized cultures highlights how arrogance and ignorance perpetuate social inequities. **In simple terms:** Elite cultural disdain Key Takeaway Recognize hidden bias Themes Social justice Class Culture Power dynamics Mood Critical Urgent Type Political commentary Critical essay When to use this quote - Policy analysis - Community organizing - Academic lectures - Media commentary - Diversity training Key Concepts Systemic oppression Practical Applications - Social research - Public advocacy Questions to Reflect On - How does cultural arrogance manifest in institutions? - What steps can dismantle elite bias? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Arrogance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arrogance/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Poor people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor-people/) [Summer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/summer/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [Larry Summers is to modesty what Madonna is to Chastity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gigot/larry-summers-is-to-modesty-what-madonna-is-to-chastity/) [Paul Gigot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gigot/) > [Ignorance is a poor tool in a battle of wits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/ignorance-is-a-poor-tool-in-a-battle-of-wits/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Exploitation of the poor can be extinguished not by effecting the destruction of a few millionaires, but by removing the ignorance of the poor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/exploitation-of-the-poor-can-be-extinguished-not-by-effecting-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“Larry (Summers - director of the National Economic Council) taught me two very important lessons. The first: Never judge a book by its cover…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alyssa-mastromonaco/larry-summers-director-of-the-national-economic-council-taught-me-two/) [Alyssa Mastromonaco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alyssa-mastromonaco/) > [“He (Larry Summers) can frame arguments with such force and conviction that people think he knows more than he does.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-suskind/he-larry-summers-can-frame-arguments-with-such-force-and-conviction/) [Ron Suskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-suskind/) > [“Larry Summers is one such rare insider. His question to me was in fact an invocation to reject the lure of the outside. Underpinning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yanis-varoufakis/larry-summers-is-one-such-rare-insider-his-question-to-me-was-in-fact/) [Yanis Varoufakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yanis-varoufakis/) > [ We don't hear our president \[Barack Obama\] talking about the need for high-quality jobs for everybody, giving it priority, not just giving a speech… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/we-don-t-hear-our-president-barack-obama-talking-about-the-need-for/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [There are three dominant tendencies in a neoliberal society: financialized, privatized, militarized. And when it comes to black poor people, we get all three.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/there-are-three-dominant-tendencies-in-a-neoliberal-society/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I'm not pessimistic, because poor people tend to bounce back. We've been through worse than this - working people been through worse than this.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-m-not-pessimistic-because-poor-people-tend-to-bounce-back-we-ve/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The problem is that affirmative action could never really get at the issue of corporate power in the workplace, and so you ended up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-problem-is-that-affirmative-action-could-never-really-get-at-the/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Martin Luther King Jr's agenda was not to help Negroes overcome American apartheid in the south. It was to make America democracy a better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/martin-luther-king-jr-s-agenda-was-not-to-help-negroes-overcome/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [“My aim is not to provide excuses for black behavior or to absolve blacks of personal responsibility. But when the new black conservatives accent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/my-aim-is-not-to-provide-excuses-for-black-behavior-or-to-absolve/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Poor people can be greedy, too. It's just that they don't have any material resources. We need shaping of the souls as well as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/poor-people-can-be-greedy-too-it-s-just-that-they-don-t-have-any/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The only regret I have in my career, is my managers wanted a big payday, and I wanted four or five more fights before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerry-cooney/the-only-regret-i-have-in-my-career-is-my-managers-wanted-a-big/) [Gerry Cooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerry-cooney/) > [And I have been very blessed, having coached some of the greatest that have ever played the game. But if I had to start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-auerbach/and-i-have-been-very-blessed-having-coached-some-of-the-greatest-that/) [Red Auerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/red-auerbach/) ## More by Cornel West > [There has certainly been ugly, right-wing hatred targeting Barack Obama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/there-has-certainly-been-ugly-right-wing-hatred-targeting-barack-obama/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [What is accurately portrayed is the rich humanity not just of Martin Luther King but of the movement, which was a multiracial movement. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/what-is-accurately-portrayed-is-the-rich-humanity-not-just-of-martin/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I feel as if I have been blessed to undergo a transformation from 'gangster' to 'redeemed sinner with gangster proclivities.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-feel-as-if-i-have-been-blessed-to-undergo-a-transformation-from/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [“Like King, we need to put on our cemetery clothes and be coffin-ready for the next great democratic battle.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/like-king-we-need-to-put-on-our-cemetery-clothes-and-be-coffin-ready/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [ “You can't really move forward until you look back. \[From Remaking America panel discussion at George Washington University\]” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/you-can-t-really-move-forward-until-you-look-back-from-remaking/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [When we think of globalization we are thinking in part of structures and institutions that have been developed over time and that have allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/when-we-think-of-globalization-we-are-thinking-in-part-of-structures/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The challenge artists face today is whether to be an underground, unheard genius, or to dilute their art for the marketplace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-challenge-artists-face-today-is-whether-to-be-an-underground/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The need of black conservatives to gain the respect of their white peers deeply shapes certain elements of their conservatism. In this regard, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-need-of-black-conservatives-to-gain-the-respect-of-their-white/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [For me, musicians are poets. Beethoven describes himself as a poet of tones, just like Coltrane's a poet of tempo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/for-me-musicians-are-poets-beethoven-describes-himself-as-a-poet-of/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I don't draw any distinctions between forms of bigotry or forms of ideology that lose sight of the humanity of people. I can't stand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-don-t-draw-any-distinctions-between-forms-of-bigotry-or-forms-of/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Barack Obama has domesticated the left in such a way that we feel as if we have no alternative but him...I refuse to accept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/barack-obama-has-domesticated-the-left-in-such-a-way-that-we-feel-as/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The greatest gift you can give someone is the gift of inspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-greatest-gift-you-can-give-someone-is-the-gift-of-inspiration/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [You can see it in terms of the obsession on Wall Street with not just profits but greed, more profit, more profit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/you-can-see-it-in-terms-of-the-obsession-on-wall-street-with-not-just/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Anybody who takes Martin Luther King seriously has got to go beyond the standard understanding of who he was, has to connect those dots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/anybody-who-takes-martin-luther-king-seriously-has-got-to-go-beyond/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Courage is the enabling virtue for any philosopher - for any human being, I think, in the end. Courage to think, courage to love,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/courage-is-the-enabling-virtue-for-any-philosopher-for-any-human/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Explore all 400 Cornel West quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) ## More Arrogance quotes > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [wishes for sons by Lucille Clifton i wish them cramps. i wish them a strange town and the last tampon. I wish them no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucille-clifton/wishes-for-sons-by-lucille-clifton-i-wish-them-cramps-i-wish-them-a/) [Lucille Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucille-clifton/) > [The structure of the Swiss ruling class is rock-hard, and unchanged since the time of Napoleon. They sit on their mountains and lecture the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-ziegler/the-structure-of-the-swiss-ruling-class-is-rock-hard-and-unchanged/) [Jean Ziegler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-ziegler/) > [What you see of me on TV and all of that, that is me - that's truly how I feel. I'm just multiplying it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-corbin/what-you-see-of-me-on-tv-and-all-of-that-that-is-me-that-s-truly-how/) [Baron Corbin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-corbin/) > [I don't join the New Atheists. So, for example, I wouldn't have the arrogance to lecture some mother who hopes to see her dying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-don-t-join-the-new-atheists-so-for-example-i-wouldn-t-have-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Never mistake someones quietness for their arrogance as you can surely miss out on an awsome personality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/never-mistake-someones-quietness-for-their-arrogance-as-you-can/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Most of us think of pride as self-centeredness, conceit, boastfulness, arrogance, or haughtiness. All of these are elements of the sin, but the heart,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-taft-benson/most-of-us-think-of-pride-as-self-centeredness-conceit-boastfulness/) [Ezra Taft Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-taft-benson/) > [“I was consumed by a selfishness and arrogance that I didn't dare let go of until I found a new persona to hide behind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-koomson/i-was-consumed-by-a-selfishness-and-arrogance-that-i-didn-t-dare-let/) [Dorothy Koomson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-koomson/) > [Arrogance is the outgrowth of prosperity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plautus/arrogance-is-the-outgrowth-of-prosperity/) [Plautus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plautus/) > [Timing and arrogance are decisive factors in the successful use of talent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-mannes/timing-and-arrogance-are-decisive-factors-in-the-successful-use-of/) [Marya Mannes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-mannes/) > [Some say work smarter, not harder, but the wisest are both. Whether you're more of a hard worker or a smart worker, if you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colby-tatem/some-say-work-smarter-not-harder-but-the-wisest-are-both-whether-you/) [Colby Tatem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colby-tatem/) > [Closed some doors, not because of pride, incapacity or arrogance, but simply because they no longer lead somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frenz-jeffrey/closed-some-doors-not-because-of-pride-incapacity-or-arrogance-but/) [Frenz Jeffrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frenz-jeffrey/) > [My success isn't a result of arrogance - it's a result of belief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-mcgregor/my-success-isn-t-a-result-of-arrogance-it-s-a-result-of-belief/) [Conor McGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-mcgregor/) > [“...a great man who is vicious will only be a great doer of evil, and a rich man who is not liberal will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-cervantes/a-great-man-who-is-vicious-will-only-be-a-great-doer-of-evil-and-a/) Miguel Cervantes > [An increasing number of people are growing uncomfortable with the gulf between the world's rich and the poor. Ostentatiously splashing your money around simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kalle-lasn/an-increasing-number-of-people-are-growing-uncomfortable-with-the/) [Kalle Lasn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kalle-lasn/) [Browse all 1,418 Arrogance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arrogance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Larry Summers, I think, he had a long history of arrogance and relative ignorance about poor people's culture and working people's culture and so forth.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cornel West" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/larry-summers-i-think-he-had-a-long-history-of-arrogance-and-relative/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Arrogance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/larry-summers-i-think-he-had-a-long-history-of-arrogance-and-relative/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/644/cornel-west-708_arrogance_larry-summers-i-think-he-had-a-long-hist_91350.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/644/cornel-west-708_arrogance_larry-summers-i-think-he-had-a-long-hist_91350.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/644/cornel-west-708_arrogance_larry-summers-i-think-he-had-a-long-hist_91350.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Larry Summers, I think, he had a long history of arrogance and relative ignorance about poor people's…” — Cornel West", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Cornel West", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Larry Summers, I think, he had...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/larry-summers-i-think-he-had-a-long-history-of-arrogance-and-relative/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/larry-summers-i-think-he-had-a-long-history-of-arrogance-and-relative/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```