We Americans are great on fillers, as if what we have, what we are, is not enough... We have only to look at the houses we build to see how we build against space, the way we drink against pain and loneliness. We fill up space as if it were a pie shell, with things whose opacity further obstructs our ability to see what is already there.

Gretel Ehrlich

More information about this quote

Topic

American character

Author

Gretel Ehrlich

Source

The Solace of Open Spaces

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1985 1980s 20th century

Occupation

Writer

From

United States

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Ehrlich, Gretel. The Solace of Open Spaces. Viking Press, 1985.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by Gretel Ehrlich about American character: “We Americans are great on fillers, as if what we have, what we are…”
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A quote by Gretel Ehrlich about American character: “We Americans are great on fillers, as if what we have, what we are…”
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A quote by Gretel Ehrlich about American character: “We Americans are great on fillers, as if what we have, what we are…”
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Another quote from the 1980s

The real community of man, in the midst of all the self-contradictory simulacra of community, is the community of those who seek the truth, of the potential knowers... Of all men to the extent they desire to know. But in fact, this includes only a few, the true friends, as Plato was to Aristotle at the very moment they were disagreeing about the nature of the good... They were absolutely one soul as they looked at the problem. This, according to Plato, is the only real friendship, the only real common good. It is here that the contact people so desperately seek is to be found.

Allan Bloom

The Closing of the American Mind

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More information about this quote
Topic
Community Connecting with others Seeking the truth

Author

Allan Bloom
Source
The Closing of the American Mind
Genre
Political literature Philosophical literature
Language
English
Time
1987 1980s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Bloom, Allan. The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today's Students. Simon & Schuster, 1987, conclusion.