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A man, a real man, must never be an agent, a tool, or a gambler—acting for himself or for others—he must employ such. A real man—a financier—was never a tool. He used tools. He created. He led.

— Theodore Dreiser The Financier (1912)

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More quotes by Theodore Dreiser

Art is the stored honey of the human soul, gathered on wings of misery and travail.

Among the forces which sweep and play throughout the universe, untutored man is but a wisp in the wind. Our civilization is still in a middle stage, scarcely beast, in that it is no longer wholly guided by instinct; scarcely human, in that it is not yet wholly guided by reason.

Sister Carrie (1900)

The most futile thing in this world is any attempt, perhaps, at exact definition of character. All individuals are a bundle of contradictions—none more so than the most capable.

The Financier (1912)

The Irish are a philosophic as well as a practical race. Their first and strongest impulse is to make the best of a bad situation—to put a better face on evil than it normally wears.

The Financier (1912)

If I were personally to define religion, I would say that it is a bandage that man has invented to protect a soul made bloody by circumstance.

The Genius (1915)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Theodore Dreiser (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.