{
  "type": "quote",
  "site": {
    "name": "Leafy Quotes",
    "language": "en",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com"
  },
  "formats": "Every page has two versions with the same data: JSON (the page address + .json) and markdown (the page address + .md). Append .json or .md to any `url` in this document.",
  "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sinclair-lewis/babbitt/just-as-he-was",
  "json": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sinclair-lewis/babbitt/just-as-he-was.json",
  "markdown": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sinclair-lewis/babbitt/just-as-he-was.md",
  "id": "961a51ca-6614-4709-a518-1533d48338a9",
  "slug": "just-as-he-was",
  "text": "Just as he was an Elk, a Booster, and a member of the Chamber of Commerce, just as the priests of the Presbyterian Church determined his every religious belief and the senators who controlled the Republican Party decided in little smoky rooms in Washington what he should think about disarmament, tariff, and Germany, so did the large national advertisers fix the surface of his life, fix what he believed to be his individuality. These standard advertised wares—toothpastes, socks, tires, cameras, instantaneous hot-water heaters—were his symbols and proofs of excellence; at first sight the signs, then the substitutes, for joy and passion and wisdom. ~ Ch. 7",
  "language": "en",
  "author": {
    "name": "Sinclair Lewis",
    "slug": "sinclair-lewis",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sinclair-lewis"
  },
  "book": {
    "title": "Babbitt",
    "slug": "babbitt",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sinclair-lewis/babbitt"
  },
  "character": null,
  "chapter": null,
  "chapter_parent": null,
  "page": null,
  "verified": false,
  "original": null,
  "other_languages": [],
  "topics": [
    {
      "name": "conformity",
      "slug": "conformity",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/conformity"
    },
    {
      "name": "consumerism",
      "slug": "consumerism",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/consumerism"
    },
    {
      "name": "advertising",
      "slug": "advertising",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/advertising"
    }
  ],
  "source": {
    "name": "Wikiquote",
    "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sinclair_Lewis#Babbitt_(1922)",
    "license": {
      "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
      "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
    }
  },
  "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:00",
  "more_from_book": [
    {
      "id": "89f7617c-8cab-45c7-8178-5ac1781ab6aa",
      "slug": "he-was-worried",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sinclair-lewis/babbitt/he-was-worried",
      "text": "He was worried lest during his late discontent he had imperiled his salvation. He was not quite sure there was a Heaven to be attained, but Dr. John Jennison said there was, and Babbitt was not going to take a chance. ~ Ch. 34",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": null,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "humor",
          "slug": "humor",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor"
        },
        {
          "name": "faith",
          "slug": "faith",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/faith"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sinclair_Lewis#Babbitt_(1922)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:01"
    },
    {
      "id": "26b50193-d88c-4a9a-a5ea-cb1e7b59c6a3",
      "slug": "all-of-them",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sinclair-lewis/babbitt/all-of-them",
      "text": "All of them perceived that American Democracy did not imply any equality of wealth, but did demand a wholesome sameness of thought, dress, painting, morals, and vocabulary. ~ Ch. 34",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": null,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "conformity",
          "slug": "conformity",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/conformity"
        },
        {
          "name": "democracy",
          "slug": "democracy",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/democracy"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sinclair_Lewis#Babbitt_(1922)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:01"
    },
    {
      "id": "013b589a-8800-4f5e-a789-2e76af9e1eff",
      "slug": "he-heard-them",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sinclair-lewis/babbitt/he-heard-them",
      "text": "He heard them whispering—whispering... The independence seeped out of him and he walked the streets alone, afraid of men's cynical eyes and the incessant hiss of whispering. ~ Ch. 32",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": null,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "fear",
          "slug": "fear",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fear"
        },
        {
          "name": "gossip",
          "slug": "gossip",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gossip"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sinclair_Lewis#Babbitt_(1922)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:01"
    }
  ]
}