--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Seeing is believing, and if an American…" description: "\"Seeing is believing, and if an American success is to count for anything in the world it must be clothed in the raiment of property. As often as not it..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac1/lewis-h-lapham-7190_american-success_seeing-is-believing-and-if-an-american-s_1903181.jpg" --- # Seeing is believing, and if an American success is to… ![“Seeing is believing, and if an American success is to count for anything in the world it must be clothed in the raiment of property. As often as not it isn't the money itself that means anything; it is the use of money as the currency of the soul.” quote by Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac1/lewis-h-lapham-7190_american-success_seeing-is-believing-and-if-an-american-s_1903181.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac1/lewis-h-lapham-7190_american-success_seeing-is-believing-and-if-an-american-s_1903181.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac1/lewis-h-lapham-7190_american-success_seeing-is-believing-and-if-an-american-s_1903181.jpg) > “Seeing is believing, and if an American success is to count for anything in the world it must be clothed in the raiment of property. As often as not it isn't the money itself that means anything; it is the use of money as the currency of the soul.” [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Wealth is valued only when it serves personal purpose, not for its own sake. **In simple terms:** Money matters when it fuels the soul. Key Takeaway Use wealth to enrich life, not just to own things. Themes wealth purpose values Mood reflective critical Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - career decisions - philanthropy - personal budgeting - investment choices Key Concepts materialism spirituality American Dream Questions to Reflect On - How does your money reflect your values? - What purpose do you assign to your wealth? A Different Perspective Wealth can become a distraction if not aligned with deeper goals. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-success/) [Believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe/) [Believing American](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believing-american-2820797/) [Currency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/currency/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Isn Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/isn-money-1471675/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Money Means](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money-means-404258/) [Property](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/property/) [Seeing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeing/) [Seeing Believing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeing-believing/) [Seeing is believing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeing-is-believing/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Believing is seeing. It's much more effective than the old notion that seeing is believing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terrence-e-deal/believing-is-seeing-it-s-much-more-effective-than-the-old-notion-that/) [Terrence E. Deal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terrence-e-deal/) > [“People hear what we say but they see what we do. And seeing is believing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-lucia/people-hear-what-we-say-but-they-see-what-we-do-and-seeing-is/) [Al Lucia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-lucia/) > [There are those who say that seeing is believing. I am telling you that believing is seeing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/there-are-those-who-say-that-seeing-is-believing-i-am-telling-you/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [“Seeing is believing, but sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can't see.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-van-allsburg/seeing-is-believing-but-sometimes-the-most-real-things-in-the-world/) [Chris Van Allsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-van-allsburg/) > [Knowledge, may it be said, is higher than magic and is more to be sought. It is quite possible to see what is happening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-stephens/knowledge-may-it-be-said-is-higher-than-magic-and-is-more-to-be/) [James Stephens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-stephens/) > [Seeing is never believing: we interpret what we see in the light of what we believe. Faith is confidence in God before you see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/seeing-is-never-believing-we-interpret-what-we-see-in-the-light-of/) [Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/) > [Seeing-is-believing is a blind spot in man's vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/seeing-is-believing-is-a-blind-spot-in-man-s-vision/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [And one eye-witness weighs More than ten hear-fays. Seeing is believing, All the world o'er.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plautus/and-one-eye-witness-weighs-more-than-ten-hear-fays-seeing-is/) [Plautus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plautus/) > [Believing is seeing and seeing is believing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hanks/believing-is-seeing-and-seeing-is-believing/) [Tom Hanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hanks/) > [People say seeing is believing , then people should start opening their eye's and start believing on true happiness in life, and stop seeing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-orante/people-say-seeing-is-believing-then-people-should-start-opening-their/) [Cristina Orante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-orante/) > [For Conservatives, seeing is believing. For liberals, believing is seeing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/for-conservatives-seeing-is-believing-for-liberals-believing-is-seeing/) [George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/) > [“Seeing is Believing, Peeing is Relieving”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-zeidan/seeing-is-believing-peeing-is-relieving/) [Robert Zeidan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-zeidan/) > [Seeing is believing to most families who have lived with a drinker.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-w/seeing-is-believing-to-most-families-who-have-lived-with-a-drinker/) [Bill W](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-w/) > [I know that for most people, seeing is believing when it comes to government efficiency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-p-bush/i-know-that-for-most-people-seeing-is-believing-when-it-comes-to/) [George P. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-p-bush/) > [“Seeing is believing”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alyson-noel/seeing-is-believing/) [Alyson Noel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alyson-noel/) ## More by Lewis H. Lapham > [The figure of the enthusiast who has just discovered jogging or a new way to fix tofu can be said to stand or, more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/the-figure-of-the-enthusiast-who-has-just-discovered-jogging-or-a-new/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [A society that presumes a norm of violence and celebrates aggression, whether in the subway, on the football field, or in the conduct of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/a-society-that-presumes-a-norm-of-violence-and-celebrates-aggression/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [The future turns out to be something that you make instead of find. It isn't waiting for your arrival, either with an arrest warrant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/the-future-turns-out-to-be-something-that-you-make-instead-of-find-it/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [The genius of capitalism consists precisely in its lack of morality. Unless he is rich enough to hire his own choir, a capitalist is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/the-genius-of-capitalism-consists-precisely-in-its-lack-of-morality/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [If you wear a suit, you can talk to anybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/if-you-wear-a-suit-you-can-talk-to-anybody/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [We might make a public moan in the newspapers about the decay of conscience, but in private conversation, no matter what crimes a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/we-might-make-a-public-moan-in-the-newspapers-about-the-decay-of/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [ \[For American consumer society\], the country's reserves of ignorance constitute a natural resource as precious as the Mississippi River or the long-lost herds of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/for-american-consumer-society-the-country-s-reserves-of-ignorance/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [A certain kind of rich man afflicted with the symptoms of moral dandyism sooner or later comes to the conclusion that it isn't enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/a-certain-kind-of-rich-man-afflicted-with-the-symptoms-of-moral/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [His administration apparently means to define itself as a television program instead of a government...I don't know if it can please both its sponsors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/his-administration-apparently-means-to-define-itself-as-a-television/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [In the garden of tabloid delight, there is always a clean towel and another song.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/in-the-garden-of-tabloid-delight-there-is-always-a-clean-towel-and/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [To the United States the Third World often takes the form of a black woman who has been made pregnant in a moment of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/to-the-united-states-the-third-world-often-takes-the-form-of-a-black/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [About the presence of death and dying I don't remember the society in the 1950s being so skittish as it has since become. People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/about-the-presence-of-death-and-dying-i-don-t-remember-the-society-in/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [Nobody suffers the pain of birth or the anguish of loving a child in order for presidents to make wars, for governments to feed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/nobody-suffers-the-pain-of-birth-or-the-anguish-of-loving-a-child-in/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [The leading cause of death is birth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/the-leading-cause-of-death-is-birth/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [Power broken into a thousand pieces can be hidden and disowned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/power-broken-into-a-thousand-pieces-can-be-hidden-and-disowned/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) [Explore all 93 Lewis H. Lapham quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) ## More American success quotes > [Asian American success is often presented as something of a horror - robotic, unfeeling machines psychotically hellbent on excelling, products of abusive tiger parenting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-zhang/asian-american-success-is-often-presented-as-something-of-a-horror/) [Jenny Zhang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-zhang/) > [I think up until '71 or '72, Herman's Hermits had our second and third Number One records in 1969 and 1970. You know, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-noone/i-think-up-until-71-or-72-herman-s-hermits-had-our-second-and-third/) [Peter Noone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-noone/) > [Wayne Messam does not have any financial problems and is a classic American Success Story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-messam/wayne-messam-does-not-have-any-financial-problems-and-is-a-classic/) [Wayne Messam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-messam/) > [The American success formula is first to get a home of your own, then to get a car of your own so you don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-levenson/the-american-success-formula-is-first-to-get-a-home-of-your-own-then/) [Sam Levenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-levenson/) > [These are American success stories. And yet the centerpiece of the Presidents entire re-election campaign is attacking success. Is it any wonder that someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitt-romney/these-are-american-success-stories-and-yet-the-centerpiece-of-the/) [Mitt Romney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitt-romney/) > [Truman is now seen as a near-great president because he put in place the containment doctrine boosted by the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-dallek/truman-is-now-seen-as-a-near-great-president-because-he-put-in-place/) [Robert Dallek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-dallek/) > [That business we started with 10 people has now grown into a great American success story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitt-romney/that-business-we-started-with-10-people-has-now-grown-into-a-great-2/) [Mitt Romney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitt-romney/) > [I'm actually an American success story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-messam/i-m-actually-an-american-success-story/) [Wayne Messam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-messam/) > [I have spent some time talking to Rex Tillerson. He's an amazing human being. He's an American success story, not just in his business…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-spicer/i-have-spent-some-time-talking-to-rex-tillerson-he-s-an-amazing-human/) [Sean Spicer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-spicer/) > [Linda Brewer's example is inspiring, colorful and potentially very funny. Her journey also exists firmly in the Heartland tradition of American success stories and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-duchovny/linda-brewer-s-example-is-inspiring-colorful-and-potentially-very/) [David Duchovny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-duchovny/) > [Bernard Harris is a great example of the American success story. In Dream Walker he describes how he is trying to pass on his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-r-barrett/bernard-harris-is-a-great-example-of-the-american-success-story-in/) [Craig R. Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-r-barrett/) > [That business we started with 10 people has now grown into a great American success story. Some of the companies we helped start are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitt-romney/that-business-we-started-with-10-people-has-now-grown-into-a-great-3/) [Mitt Romney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitt-romney/) > [Land Grant College Act is the jewel of Republican reform. It had not occurred to any other country to educate their farmers and workers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-r-morris/land-grant-college-act-is-the-jewel-of-republican-reform-it-had-not/) [Charles R. Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-r-morris/) [Browse all 14 American success quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-success/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Seeing is believing, and if an American success is to count for anything in the world it must be clothed in the raiment of property. As often as not it isn't the money itself that means anything; it is the use of money as the currency of the soul.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis H. 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