# Quote — Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt

> 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

- Author: [Sinclair Lewis](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sinclair-lewis.md)
- Book: [Babbitt](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sinclair-lewis/babbitt.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sinclair_Lewis#Babbitt_(1922)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/sinclair-lewis/babbitt/just-as-he-was

## More from this book

> 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

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sinclair-lewis/babbitt/he-was-worried.md)

> 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

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sinclair-lewis/babbitt/all-of-them.md)

> They were newly rich contractors who, having bought houses, motors, hand-painted pictures, and gentlemanliness, were now buying a refined ready-made philosophy. It had been a tossup with them whether to buy New Thought, Christian Science, or a good standard high-church model of Episcopalianism. ~ Ch. 30

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sinclair-lewis/babbitt/they-were-newly.md)