--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Men die, but the plutocracy is immortal…" description: "\"Men die, but the plutocracy is immortal; and it is necessary that fresh generations should be trained to its service.\" — Sinclair Lewis" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca7/sinclair-lewis-1945_dies_men-die-but-the-plutocracy-is-immortal-a_619690.png" --- # Men die, but the plutocracy is immortal; and it is… ![“Men die, but the plutocracy is immortal; and it is necessary that fresh generations should be trained to its service.” quote by Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca7/sinclair-lewis-1945_dies_men-die-but-the-plutocracy-is-immortal-a_619690.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca7/sinclair-lewis-1945_dies_men-die-but-the-plutocracy-is-immortal-a_619690.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca7/sinclair-lewis-1945_dies_men-die-but-the-plutocracy-is-immortal-a_619690.png) > “Men die, but the plutocracy is immortal; and it is necessary that fresh generations should be trained to its service.” [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The ruling class persists beyond individual lives, and new generations must be prepared to serve it. **In simple terms:** The elite endures; youth must be trained for it. Key Takeaway Prepare future leaders to challenge entrenched power. Themes power elite education politics Mood critical reflective Type political philosophical When to use this quote - political activism - academic curricula - media literacy - community organizing Key Concepts classism social control intergenerational influence Questions to Reflect On - How can we empower youth to reshape power structures? - What alternatives exist to serving the plutocracy? A Different Perspective The quote assumes all youth will be indoctrinated, ignoring resistance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Plutocracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plutocracy/) ## Related quotes > [I came then to a conviction that has never left me: that there is too much for me to attend to in this mortal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-tarbell/i-came-then-to-a-conviction-that-has-never-left-me-that-there-is-too/) [Ida Tarbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-tarbell/) > [For me, love carries the seeds of its own destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-gaye/for-me-love-carries-the-seeds-of-its-own-destruction/) [Marvin Gaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-gaye/) > [Every civilization carries the seeds of its own destruction, and the same cycle shows in them all. The Republic is born, flourishes, decays into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/every-civilization-carries-the-seeds-of-its-own-destruction-and-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“Representative government is artifice, a political myth, designed to conceal from the masses the dominance of a self-selected, self-perpetuating, and self-serving traditional ruling class.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-prezzolini/representative-government-is-artifice-a-political-myth-designed-to/) Giuseppe Prezzolini > [Whatever the label on the parties, or the war cries issuing from the demagogues who lead them, the practical choice is between the plutocracy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/whatever-the-label-on-the-parties-or-the-war-cries-issuing-from-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [“Because it is a curious challenge for western man to distinguish between aristocracy and plutocracy, it will be his unhappy fate to struggle under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-fahy/because-it-is-a-curious-challenge-for-western-man-to-distinguish/) [Tom Fahy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-fahy/) > [This combat between proletariat and plutocracy is, after all, itself a civil war. Two inferiorities struggle for the privilege of polluting the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/this-combat-between-proletariat-and-plutocracy-is-after-all-itself-a/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Democracy is just a word. You have to give it meaning. The US is not a democracy. Most Americans do not vote. We haven't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramsey-clark/democracy-is-just-a-word-you-have-to-give-it-meaning-the-us-is-not-a/) [Ramsey Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramsey-clark/) > [We always come back to the same misunderstanding. The Jews because of their spirit of revolt, their exclusiveness and the Messianic tendencies which animate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-v-deponcins/we-always-come-back-to-the-same-misunderstanding-the-jews-because-of/) [Leon V. DePoncins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-v-deponcins/) > [I can't agree that what we're seeing is a matter of the American bourgeoisie confronting workers everywhere. It's more like the international plutocracy eliminating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hendrik-hertzberg/i-can-t-agree-that-what-we-re-seeing-is-a-matter-of-the-american/) [Hendrik Hertzberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hendrik-hertzberg/) > [We're not a democracy. It's a terrible misunderstandin g and a slander to the idea of democracy to call us that. In reality, we're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramsey-clark/we-re-not-a-democracy-it-s-a-terrible-misunderstandin-g-and-a-slander/) [Ramsey Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramsey-clark/) > [Of all forms of tyranny the least attractive and the most vulgar is the tyranny of mere wealth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/of-all-forms-of-tyranny-the-least-attractive-and-the-most-vulgar-is/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [If you give up on politics, you're giving up on democracy. And if you give up on democracy, you're basically saying to the moneyed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reich/if-you-give-up-on-politics-you-re-giving-up-on-democracy-and-if-you/) [Robert Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reich/) > [Dark influences from the American past congregate among us still. If we are a democracy, what are we to make of the palpable elements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/dark-influences-from-the-american-past-congregate-among-us-still-if/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [I will always fight for progress and reform, never tolerate injustice or corruption, always fight demagogues of all parties, never belong to any party,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-pulitzer/i-will-always-fight-for-progress-and-reform-never-tolerate-injustice/) [Joseph Pulitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-pulitzer/) ## More by Sinclair Lewis > [“She found beauty in the children.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/she-found-beauty-in-the-children/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [What is Love? Listen! It is the rainbow that stands out, in all its glorious many-colored hues, illuminating and making glad again the dark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/what-is-love-listen-it-is-the-rainbow-that-stands-out-in-all-its/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [When you think that most of us are doomed by divine grace to roast in hell, to say nothing of mortgages and hail and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/when-you-think-that-most-of-us-are-doomed-by-divine-grace-to-roast-in/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [He loved the people just as much as he feared and detested persons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/he-loved-the-people-just-as-much-as-he-feared-and-detested-persons/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“He had expected that traditionally Republican Vermont would give him too drearily easy a task in preaching Trowbridge. What he found was a dismaying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/he-had-expected-that-traditionally-republican-vermont-would-give-him/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“Day on day he waited. So much of a revolution for so many people is nothing but waiting. That is one reason why tourists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/day-on-day-he-waited-so-much-of-a-revolution-for-so-many-people-is/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“She continued it to Hugh, 'Darling, do you know what mother and you are going to find beyond the blue horizon rim?' 'What?' flatly.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/she-continued-it-to-hugh-darling-do-you-know-what-mother-and-you-are/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [Is it possible that nobody has ever known that there never has been a completely civilized man, and won't be for another thousand years?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/is-it-possible-that-nobody-has-ever-known-that-there-never-has-been-a/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“I think perhaps we want a more conscientious life. We're tired of drudging and sleeping and dying. We're tired of always deferring hope to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/i-think-perhaps-we-want-a-more-conscientious-life-we-re-tired-of/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [It might be the doing of Satan, in whom Aaron anxiously believed with all of his being except, perhaps, his mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/it-might-be-the-doing-of-satan-in-whom-aaron-anxiously-believed-with/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“The author says one character's definition of a classic is any book he'd heard of before he was thirty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/the-author-says-one-character-s-definition-of-a-classic-is-any-book/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“Like all males, he hated to confess ignorance by asking directions,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/like-all-males-he-hated-to-confess-ignorance-by-asking-directions/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [Winter is not a season, it's an occupation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/winter-is-not-a-season-it-s-an-occupation/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“Author sees the "congested idealism" of the generally discontent as reservoir that will support centralized power even while disagreeing with many specific provisions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/author-sees-the-congested-idealism-of-the-generally-discontent-as/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“The poor we have always with us, and the purpose of the Lord in providing the poor is to enable us of the better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/the-poor-we-have-always-with-us-and-the-purpose-of-the-lord-in/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) [Explore all 196 Sinclair Lewis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) ## More Dies quotes > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [ I'll smoke, I'll cough, I'll get the tumors, I'll die, deal? Thank you America. \[salutes\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/i-ll-smoke-i-ll-cough-i-ll-get-the-tumors-i-ll-die-deal-thank-you/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [Don't even think for a moment that you are not going to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dzongsar-jamyang-khyentse-rinpoche/don-t-even-think-for-a-moment-that-you-are-not-going-to-die/) [Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dzongsar-jamyang-khyentse-rinpoche/) > [Set NOT your hearts on the flowers of this world. They shall fade and die. Prize the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/set-not-your-hearts-on-the-flowers-of-this-world-they-shall-fade-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Violence is not necessary to destroy a civilization. Each civilization dies from indifference toward the unique values which created it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-gomez-davila/violence-is-not-necessary-to-destroy-a-civilization-each-civilization/) [Nicolas Gomez Davila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-gomez-davila/) > [I wonder: when a Jehovah's Witness dies and goes to Heaven, does God hide behind the door and pretend He's not home?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-celio/i-wonder-when-a-jehovah-s-witness-dies-and-goes-to-heaven-does-god/) [Brian Celio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-celio/) > [Certainly, it is. Love is love, and loss is loss. We all love, and we all die, and everyone suffers the pain of grieving.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynsay-sands/certainly-it-is-love-is-love-and-loss-is-loss-we-all-love-and-we-all/) [Lynsay Sands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynsay-sands/) > [“When he stops giving you butterflies, Love dies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-blanchard/when-he-stops-giving-you-butterflies-love-dies/) Michelle Blanchard > [That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefits conferred. They only have lived long who have lived virtuously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/that-old-man-dies-prematurely-whose-memory-records-no-benefits/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > [I don't want to just die a normal death, I wanna be killed twice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eminem/i-don-t-want-to-just-die-a-normal-death-i-wanna-be-killed-twice/) [Eminem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eminem/) > [My father thrives on fear. You know that prayer If I should die before I wake? I had sheets that said that!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-titus/my-father-thrives-on-fear-you-know-that-prayer-if-i-should-die-before/) [Christopher Titus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-titus/) > [For the glory born of Goodness Never dies, And its flag is not half-masted In the skies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/for-the-glory-born-of-goodness-never-dies-and-its-flag-is-not-half/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [This mind is a prison. It cannot find any freedom anywhere. It must die before freedom comes to you. But we have taken the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/this-mind-is-a-prison-it-cannot-find-any-freedom-anywhere-it-must-die/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [An artist's creative energy is ephemeral as a flower. It blooms and soon dies. No artist is great forever. Personally, I think I reached…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-ki-duk/an-artist-s-creative-energy-is-ephemeral-as-a-flower-it-blooms-and/) [Kim Ki-duk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-ki-duk/) > [If you’re going to die on screen, you’ve got to be strong and in good health.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greta-garbo/if-you-re-going-to-die-on-screen-you-ve-got-to-be-strong-and-in-good/) [Greta Garbo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greta-garbo/) Browse all 7,484 Dies quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Men die, but the plutocracy is immortal; and it is necessary that fresh generations should be trained to its service.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sinclair Lewis" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/men-die-but-the-plutocracy-is-immortal-and-it-is-necessary-that-fresh/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dies" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/men-die-but-the-plutocracy-is-immortal-and-it-is-necessary-that-fresh/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca7/sinclair-lewis-1945_dies_men-die-but-the-plutocracy-is-immortal-a_619690.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca7/sinclair-lewis-1945_dies_men-die-but-the-plutocracy-is-immortal-a_619690.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca7/sinclair-lewis-1945_dies_men-die-but-the-plutocracy-is-immortal-a_619690.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Men die, but the plutocracy is immortal; and it is necessary that fresh generations should be trained to its…” — Sinclair Lewis", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Sinclair Lewis", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Men die, but the plutocracy is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/men-die-but-the-plutocracy-is-immortal-and-it-is-necessary-that-fresh/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/men-die-but-the-plutocracy-is-immortal-and-it-is-necessary-that-fresh/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```