Apartment Quote by Lester B. Pearson
“If a man has an apartment stacked to the ceiling with newspapers, we call him crazy. If a woman has a trailer house full of cats, we call her nuts. But when people pathologically hoard so much cash that they impoverish the entire nation, we put them on the cover of Fortune magazine and pretend that they are role models.”
About This Quote
Source Speech: Public remarks on economic inequality, Canada, 1970s
The quote highlights double standards in how society labels personal excess versus financial greed, praising the latter as success.
In simple terms: Society praises wealth even when it harms others.
Key Takeaway
Question wealth, not hoarding, as a virtue.
Themes
doubleity
wealth
social critique
gender bias
economic inequality
Mood
critical
ironic
thought‑provoking
Type
satirical
social commentary
When to use this quote
- policy debates
- financial education
- media analysis
- activism
- personal finance counseling
Key Concepts
Capitalism
social norms
psychology of labeling
media glorification
Questions to Reflect On
- How do we differentiate healthy ambition from harmful greed?
- What role do media narratives play in shaping our values?
A Different Perspective
The quote may oversimplify complex economic systems and ignore legitimate entrepreneurial risk.
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![“Not only did he [Dean Acheson] not suffer fools gladly, he did not suffer them at all.” quote by Lester B. Pearson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/aa6/lester-b-pearson-15334_dean_not-only-did-he-dean-acheson-not-suffer_38513.jpg)
![“This fastest of all games [hockey] has become almost as much of a national svmbol as the maple leaf.” quote by Lester B. Pearson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/156/lester-b-pearson-15334_games_this-fastest-of-all-games-hockey-has-bec_928286.jpg)
![“My father would never have come to visit, he detested Eva's [Braun] choice in a man and the fact [Adolf] Hitler had set her up in an apartment. To him it was deeply humiliating that she was living with a man at his own whim at an apartment he was paying for.” quote by Gretl Braun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/2a7/gretl-braun-9500_apartment_my-father-would-never-have-come-to-visit_40016.jpg)
