Consumerism Quote by David Bentley Hart
““Late modern society is principally concerned with purchasing things, in ever greater abundance and variety, and so has to strive to fabricate an ever greater number of desires to gratify, and to abolish as many limits and prohibitions upon desire as it can. Such a society is already implicitly atheist and so must slowly but relentlessly apply itself to the dissolution of transcendent values. It cannot allow ultimate goods to distract us from proximate goods. Our sacred writ is advertising, our piety is shopping, our highest devotion is private choice. God and the soul too often hinder the purely acquisitive longings upon which the market depends, and confront us with values that stand in stark rivalry to the only truly substantial value at the center of the social universe: the price tag.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Beauty of the Infinite, 2019
Modern consumer culture creates endless desires, turning advertising into a sacred rite and eroding deeper values.
In simple terms: Consumerism replaces deeper values.
Key Takeaway
Recognize and question material cravings.
Themes
consumerism
materialism
values
spirituality
Mood
critical
reflective
Type
philosophical
cultural critique
When to use this quote
- shopping
- media consumption
- personal finance
- ethical decision making
- cultural critique
Key Concepts
desire
advertising
transcendence
market dynamics
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you balance material needs with deeper values?
- What alternatives to consumer identity exist?
A Different Perspective
The quote may overgeneralize and ignore non‑consumer aspects of modern life.
![“I just think we can't do enough of this [student exchanges]... And when you get young children traveling internationally, I think they come back different people. And you can't put a price tag - you can't put a value on that.” quote by Arne Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/974/arne-duncan-11784_children_i-just-think-we-can-t-do-enough-of-this_80565.jpg)
