Bourgeois Quote by John Carroll
![“Utilitarianism had found [in Samuel Smiles' Self-Help] its portrait gallery of heroes, inscribed with a vigorous exhortation to all men to strive in their image; this philistine romanticism established the bourgeois hero-prototype the penniless office-boy who works his way to economic fortune and…” quote by John Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/b69/john-carroll-16284_bourgeois_utilitarianism-had-found-in-samuel-smile_1733275.jpg)
“Utilitarianism had found [in Samuel Smiles' Self-Help] its portrait gallery of heroes, inscribed with a vigorous exhortation to all men to strive in their image; this philistine romanticism established the bourgeois hero-prototype the penniless office-boy who works his way to economic fortune and this wins his way into the mercantile plutocracy.”
About This Quote
Utilitarianism glorifies self-made individuals who rise from humble beginnings, creating a bourgeois ideal of the hardworking, penniless office boy who achieves wealth.
In simple terms: It celebrates the self-made hero as a moral exemplar.
Key Takeaway
Question the myth of meritocracy.
Themes
philosophy
economics
culture
class
heroism
Mood
reflective
critical
thoughtful
Type
philosophical
social
When to use this quote
- business education
- career counseling
- literary criticism
- social policy
- media analysis
Key Concepts
Utilitarian ethics
bourgeois ideals
self-help narrative
Questions to Reflect On
- Do such narratives ignore structural inequality?
- How does this hero archetype affect social expectations?
A Different Perspective
Overlooks systemic barriers that limit true upward mobility.
![“The garden [of Eden] is the realm of pure beauty from which man is expelled when he becomes interested in ethics, in the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The return into paradise, the homecoming, depends on him penetrating the veils of morality to glimpse again the lineaments of…” quote by John Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/e74/john-carroll-16284_beauty_the-garden-of-eden-is-the-realm-of-pure_669813.jpg)
![“Avant-garde theatre, with its distrust of the individual (that bourgeois invention), tends to go beyond [character] and the psychological approach in search of a syntax of types and characters which are "deconstructed and post-individual.” quote by Patrice Pavis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/c22/patrice-pavis-72351_approach_avant-garde-theatre-with-its-distrust-of_59690.jpg)
