--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Money is normative. So pervasive is its…" description: "\"“Money is normative. So pervasive is its influence on our lives that it makes less moneyed ages incomprehensible, consigning them to barbarism or folkl..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41c/james-buchan-9717_money_money-is-normative-so-pervasive-is-its-i_1777828.jpg" --- # Money is normative. So pervasive is its influence on our… ![“Money is normative. So pervasive is its influence on our lives that it makes less moneyed ages incomprehensible, consigning them to barbarism or folklore. Yet history is not inevitable: antiquity did not aspire to our present condition and might have generated a quite different present.” quote by James Buchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41c/james-buchan-9717_money_money-is-normative-so-pervasive-is-its-i_1777828.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41c/james-buchan-9717_money_money-is-normative-so-pervasive-is-its-i_1777828.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41c/james-buchan-9717_money_money-is-normative-so-pervasive-is-its-i_1777828.jpg) > ““Money is normative. So pervasive is its influence on our lives that it makes less moneyed ages incomprehensible, consigning them to barbarism or folklore. Yet history is not inevitable: antiquity did not aspire to our present condition and might have generated a quite different present.”” [James Buchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-buchan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Money dominates society, marginalizing the poor, but history shows alternative outcomes were possible. **In simple terms:** Money shapes society, yet alternatives exist. Key Takeaway Question economic power structures. Themes socio‑economics history inequality Mood reflective concerned Type philosophical political When to use this quote - Policy reform - community building - educational programs Key Concepts Wealth influence social stratification Questions to Reflect On - What would a less money‑driven world look like? - How can we empower the underprivileged? A Different Perspective Changing deep‑rooted systems is hard. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Antiquity Did](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/antiquity-did-1836591/) [History Inevitable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history-inevitable-1533520/) [Inevitable Antiquity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inevitable-antiquity-1836589/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Money Normative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money-normative-1836588/) [Moneyed Ages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moneyed-ages-1836590/) ## Related quotes > [“Our earth was just one thin example of what was possible, and because it was possible, this history was inevitable”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bear/our-earth-was-just-one-thin-example-of-what-was-possible-and-because/) [Elizabeth Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bear/) > [Our history is an inevitable component of our being. One thing only can release us from the grip of our history. 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Smedes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-b-smedes/) > [“Fatalism in history is inevitable for the explanation of senseless phenomena (that is, those whose sense we do not understand).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/fatalism-in-history-is-inevitable-for-the-explanation-of-senseless/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“The writer must earn money in order to be able to live and to write, but he must by no means live and write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-goins/the-writer-must-earn-money-in-order-to-be-able-to-live-and-to-write/) [Jeff Goins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-goins/) > [I doubt that we Americans can come to terms with our money neuroses without understanding the more florid pathology of the very rich for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-slater/i-doubt-that-we-americans-can-come-to-terms-with-our-money-neuroses/) [Philip Slater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-slater/) > [Amongst the financial Twitterati, the term 'muppets' has come to describe any client used and abused by some financial predator. I've adopted the term…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-ritholtz/amongst-the-financial-twitterati-the-term-muppets-has-come-to/) [Barry Ritholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-ritholtz/) > [Academically, I was never that interested. I skipped classes. My biggest dream was to have a coffee shop, but I had no idea how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-espinosa/academically-i-was-never-that-interested-i-skipped-classes-my-biggest/) [Daniel Espinosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-espinosa/) > [“Don't allow money to become the yardstick by which you measure the worth of the world around you!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-james-pritchard/don-t-allow-money-to-become-the-yardstick-by-which-you-measure-the/) [Andrew James Pritchard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-james-pritchard/) > [Maybe you can,t buy a big house.. A new car.. A huge diamond ring.. But if you have just one true friend who loves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathy/maybe-you-can-t-buy-a-big-house-a-new-car-a-huge-diamond-ring-but-if/) [Cathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cathy/) > [If you restore a car, and you're making money, then you're doing it wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/if-you-restore-a-car-and-you-re-making-money-then-you-re-doing-it/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [I would borrow money all day long, if the cost of borrowing is less than the expected return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-schneider/i-would-borrow-money-all-day-long-if-the-cost-of-borrowing-is-less/) [Brad Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-schneider/) > [Money is the kind of instrument which is very speedily produced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatoly-chubais/money-is-the-kind-of-instrument-which-is-very-speedily-produced/) [Anatoly Chubais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatoly-chubais/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [Don't let's lose sight of what creates wealth. It is open markets, it is capitalism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-murdoch/don-t-let-s-lose-sight-of-what-creates-wealth-it-is-open-markets-it/) [Rupert Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-murdoch/) > [You've got to tell your money what to do or it will leave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-ramsey/you-ve-got-to-tell-your-money-what-to-do-or-it-will-leave/) [Dave Ramsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-ramsey/) ## More by James Buchan > [The prevailing ideology of the modern west - which is political economy - is in the doghouse. Having failed to notice atmospheric pollution, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-buchan/the-prevailing-ideology-of-the-modern-west-which-is-political-economy/) [James Buchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-buchan/) > [For 50 years, nuclear power stations have produced three products which only a lunatic could want: bomb-explosive plutonium, lethal radioactive waste and electricity so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-buchan/for-50-years-nuclear-power-stations-have-produced-three-products/) [James Buchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-buchan/) > [Europe and North America, we are told, are less dependent on energy-intensive heavy industry than in the 1960s and 1970s. 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With…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-buchan/ever-since-the-destruction-of-baghdad-by-the-mongols-in-1258-the/) [James Buchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-buchan/) > [“My wages came to me not to satisfy any need-- mine were anyway private, affectionate, atrocious-- but to make my needs universal: to incorporate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-buchan/my-wages-came-to-me-not-to-satisfy-any-need-mine-were-anyway-private/) [James Buchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-buchan/) > [For all their current prestige, Osama bin Laden and the suicide bombers are still regarded in all but the most desperate districts of Gaza…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-buchan/for-all-their-current-prestige-osama-bin-laden-and-the-suicide/) [James Buchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-buchan/) > [Almost all novels are improved by cutting from the top. On their first pages, authors parade those favourite effects which disgust the impartial reader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-buchan/almost-all-novels-are-improved-by-cutting-from-the-top-on-their-first/) [James Buchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-buchan/) > [Profits in business always depend on the rate of interest: the higher the interest, the higher the rate of profit required.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-buchan/profits-in-business-always-depend-on-the-rate-of-interest-the-higher/) [James Buchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-buchan/) > [Cause and effect, the riddle of all history, is a particular devil in financial history; and never more so than today, where entire classes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-buchan/cause-and-effect-the-riddle-of-all-history-is-a-particular-devil-in/) [James Buchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-buchan/) > [Rarely in modern times has there been such a revolution in commercial sentiment as occurred in 2008, or such a display in government and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-buchan/rarely-in-modern-times-has-there-been-such-a-revolution-in-commercial/) [James Buchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-buchan/) > [Osama bin Laden, the Saudi-born revolutionary who is believed by most Arab and Iranian observers to be the inspiration of the attacks in New…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-buchan/osama-bin-laden-the-saudi-born-revolutionary-who-is-believed-by-most/) [James Buchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-buchan/) [Explore all 70 James Buchan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-buchan/) ## More Money quotes > [You've got to tell your money what to do or it will leave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-ramsey/you-ve-got-to-tell-your-money-what-to-do-or-it-will-leave/) [Dave Ramsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-ramsey/) > [Don't let's lose sight of what creates wealth. It is open markets, it is capitalism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-murdoch/don-t-let-s-lose-sight-of-what-creates-wealth-it-is-open-markets-it/) [Rupert Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-murdoch/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [Money is the kind of instrument which is very speedily produced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatoly-chubais/money-is-the-kind-of-instrument-which-is-very-speedily-produced/) [Anatoly Chubais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatoly-chubais/) > [I would borrow money all day long, if the cost of borrowing is less than the expected return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-schneider/i-would-borrow-money-all-day-long-if-the-cost-of-borrowing-is-less/) [Brad Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-schneider/) > [If you restore a car, and you're making money, then you're doing it wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/if-you-restore-a-car-and-you-re-making-money-then-you-re-doing-it/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [Maybe you can,t buy a big house.. A new car.. A huge diamond ring.. But if you have just one true friend who loves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathy/maybe-you-can-t-buy-a-big-house-a-new-car-a-huge-diamond-ring-but-if/) [Cathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cathy/) > [“Don't allow money to become the yardstick by which you measure the worth of the world around you!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-james-pritchard/don-t-allow-money-to-become-the-yardstick-by-which-you-measure-the/) [Andrew James Pritchard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-james-pritchard/) > [Academically, I was never that interested. I skipped classes. My biggest dream was to have a coffee shop, but I had no idea how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-espinosa/academically-i-was-never-that-interested-i-skipped-classes-my-biggest/) [Daniel Espinosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-espinosa/) > [Amongst the financial Twitterati, the term 'muppets' has come to describe any client used and abused by some financial predator. I've adopted the term…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-ritholtz/amongst-the-financial-twitterati-the-term-muppets-has-come-to/) [Barry Ritholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-ritholtz/) > [I doubt that we Americans can come to terms with our money neuroses without understanding the more florid pathology of the very rich for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-slater/i-doubt-that-we-americans-can-come-to-terms-with-our-money-neuroses/) [Philip Slater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-slater/) > [“The writer must earn money in order to be able to live and to write, but he must by no means live and write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-goins/the-writer-must-earn-money-in-order-to-be-able-to-live-and-to-write/) [Jeff Goins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-goins/) > [Jobs and money are never the primary cause of stress. Thinking, negative thinking causes stress. 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