A theory of the middle class: that it is not to be determined by its financial situation but rather by its relation to government. That is, one could shade down from an actual ruling or governing class to a class hopelessly out of relation to government, thinking of government as beyond its control, of itself as wholly controlled by government. Somewhere in between and In gradations is the group that has the sense that gov't exists for it, and shapes its consciousness accordingly.
Lionel TrillingWe who are liberal and progressive know that the poor are our equals in every sense except that of being equal to us.
Lionel TrillingLiterature is the human activity that make the fullest and most precise account of variousness, possibility, complexity, and difficulty.
Lionel Trilling