--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To call a man \"a complete failure\"…" description: "\"“To call a man \"a complete failure\" tallied both the economics of capitalism and the economics of selfhood; that is, the external and internal transact..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a78/scott-a-sandage-45283_failure_to-call-a-man-a-complete-failure-tallied_2414630.jpg" --- # To call a man "a complete failure" tallied both the… ![“To call a man "a complete failure" tallied both the economics of capitalism and the economics of selfhood; that is, the external and internal transactions that reckon how we see ourselves and how others see us. Soon a man would be nothing more nor less than his occupation. Thoreau ground this axe…” quote by Scott A. Sandage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a78/scott-a-sandage-45283_failure_to-call-a-man-a-complete-failure-tallied_2414630.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a78/scott-a-sandage-45283_failure_to-call-a-man-a-complete-failure-tallied_2414630.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a78/scott-a-sandage-45283_failure_to-call-a-man-a-complete-failure-tallied_2414630.jpg) > ““To call a man "a complete failure" tallied both the economics of capitalism and the economics of selfhood; that is, the external and internal transactions that reckon how we see ourselves and how others see us. Soon a man would be nothing more nor less than his occupation. Thoreau ground this axe in an 1854 lecture called "Getting a Living," which he mailed off to the Atlantic Monthly-under the punning title "Life without Principle"-two months before his death. He complained that people called him "a loafer" for taking daily walks in the woods. Yet were he to spend the day as a timber speculator, denuding the landscape, he would be "esteemed an industrious and enterprising citizen."22”” [Scott A. Sandage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-a-sandage/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques how society judges worth by external success and internal self‑valuation, reducing identity to occupation and economic productivity. **In simple terms:** Society measures worth by job and self‑image, not character. Key Takeaway Recognize value beyond work. Themes identity societal judgment economics self‑worth Mood critical reflective Type philosophical social commentary When to use this quote - career evaluation - personal reflection - community discussion - educational curriculum - mental health counseling Key Concepts capitalism selfhood occupational identity social perception Questions to Reflect On - How do you define yourself beyond your job? - What pressures shape your self‑image? A Different Perspective It may overlook intrinsic motivations and non‑economic contributions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life principle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-principle/) ## Related quotes > [Life without prejudice, were it ever to be tried, would soon reveal itself to be a life without principle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-weaver/life-without-prejudice-were-it-ever-to-be-tried-would-soon-reveal-2/) [Richard M. 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Coming confidently to God asking Him to do something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-tells-us-to-come-boldly-into-his-presence-we-believes-must-pray/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Base thy life on principle, not on rules.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lancaster-spalding/base-thy-life-on-principle-not-on-rules/) [John Lancaster Spalding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lancaster-spalding/) > [You must place obedience at the top of your priority list.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-must-place-obedience-at-the-top-of-your-priority-list/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Science regards man as an aggregation of atoms temporarily united by a mysterious force called the life-principle. To the materialist, the only difference between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-besant/science-regards-man-as-an-aggregation-of-atoms-temporarily-united-by/) [Annie Besant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-besant/) > [The Holy Spirit enables you to walk obediently before God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-holy-spirit-enables-you-to-walk-obediently-before-god/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Man, who preys both on the vegetable and animal species, is himself a prey to neither. He too possesses the reproductive principle far beyond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/man-who-preys-both-on-the-vegetable-and-animal-species-is-himself-a/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [“Philosophically defined, growth is the struggle of life to control its environment or, rather, to include more and more of its environment within the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manly-p-hall/philosophically-defined-growth-is-the-struggle-of-life-to-control-its/) [Manly P. Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manly-p-hall/) > [Reshaping life! People who can say that have never understood a thing about life—they have never felt its breath, its heartbeat—however much they have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/reshaping-life-people-who-can-say-that-have-never-understood-a-thing/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [God allows adversity to mold and shape you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-allows-adversity-to-mold-and-shape-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Scott A. Sandage > [“The age of the self-made man was also the age of the broken man... This ‘American sense’ looked upon failure as a ‘moral sieve’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-a-sandage/the-age-of-the-self-made-man-was-also-the-age-of-the-broken-man-this/) [Scott A. Sandage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-a-sandage/) > [“A century ago, in his 1905 classic work The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Max Weber argued that striving for success is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-a-sandage/a-century-ago-in-his-1905-classic-work-the-protestant-ethic-and-the/) [Scott A. Sandage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-a-sandage/) > [“In early America, fear of failure loomed largest on Sunday. Monday morning dawned about the year i8oo. By then, "failure" meant an entrepreneurial fall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-a-sandage/in-early-america-fear-of-failure-loomed-largest-on-sunday-monday/) [Scott A. Sandage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-a-sandage/) > [“We do this because a century and a half ago we embraced business as the dominant model for our outer and inner lives. Ours…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-a-sandage/we-do-this-because-a-century-and-a-half-ago-we-embraced-business-as/) [Scott A. Sandage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-a-sandage/) > [“I feel like a failure." The expression comes so naturally that we forget it is a figure of speech: the language of business applied…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-a-sandage/i-feel-like-a-failure-the-expression-comes-so-naturally-that-we/) [Scott A. Sandage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-a-sandage/) > [“Someday they would rise and fall in the world the sermon presaged, where berry picking was a higher crime than bankruptcy. If a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-a-sandage/someday-they-would-rise-and-fall-in-the-world-the-sermon-presaged/) [Scott A. Sandage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-a-sandage/) > [“By 19oo, anybody could end up "a 'Nobody,"' plodding down the "many paths leading to the Land of 'Nowhere."' Failure had become what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-a-sandage/by-19oo-anybody-could-end-up-a-nobody-plodding-down-the-many-paths/) [Scott A. Sandage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-a-sandage/) > [“Debtors and idlers abounded in the colonial era, but failing in business was not so calamitous as falling from grace... In Early America, fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-a-sandage/debtors-and-idlers-abounded-in-the-colonial-era-but-failing-in/) [Scott A. Sandage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-a-sandage/) [Explore all 9 Scott A. Sandage quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-a-sandage/) ## More Failure quotes > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [Failures happen. You can't cry over them. You just take it in your stride because you know that you have done your best... Sometimes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-dutta/failures-happen-you-can-t-cry-over-them-you-just-take-it-in-your/) [Divya Dutta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-dutta/) > [No one is completely unhappy at the failure of his best friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/no-one-is-completely-unhappy-at-the-failure-of-his-best-friend/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [“Rhiannon's Law #28: If you're going to fuck up, be sure to fuck up good and proper. Nothing makes failure acceptable, so you might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/rhiannon-s-law-28-if-you-re-going-to-fuck-up-be-sure-to-fuck-up-good/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Failure is a part of life and you have to learn to deal with it. Failure is something that is part of life's cycle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/failure-is-a-part-of-life-and-you-have-to-learn-to-deal-with-it/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [First action was a mistake. What about the second? third? fourth and fifth?...Mehn you are bad...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/first-action-was-a-mistake-what-about-the-second-third-fourth-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [God's love never fail :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-s-love-never-fail/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Don’t you just hate nights like that, when you think over every mistake you’ve made, every hurt you’ve received, every bit of meanness you’ve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlaine-harris/don-t-you-just-hate-nights-like-that-when-you-think-over-every/) [Charlaine Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlaine-harris/) > [“Our failure to understand another being's inner reality doesn't make that reality any less real, or any less valuable to that being. (p.255)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-schulz/our-failure-to-understand-another-being-s-inner-reality-doesn-t-make/) [Kathryn Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-schulz/) > [I hope that the Palestinians don't make the mistake of unleashing a new intifada. They've tried it twice before, and the consequences were bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-segev/i-hope-that-the-palestinians-don-t-make-the-mistake-of-unleashing-a/) [Tom Segev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-segev/) > [Don't take too much comfort in the fact that you're successful today because tomorrow could bring failure. There's no surety in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-savage/don-t-take-too-much-comfort-in-the-fact-that-you-re-successful-today/) [Michael Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-savage/) > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [failure in the theater is more public, more brilliant, more unreal than in any other field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/failure-in-the-theater-is-more-public-more-brilliant-more-unreal-than/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [As we are coming to the end of the year, I want you to forget about the past, the failure, the negative thoughts or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-we-are-coming-to-the-end-of-the-year-i-want-you-to-forget-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 27,498 Failure quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“To call a man \"a complete failure\" tallied both the economics of capitalism and the economics of selfhood; that is, the external and internal transactions that reckon how we see ourselves and how others see us. 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