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About this quote

What does it mean?
Bangs notes that extravagant lifestyles often pass for charisma even though they reveal little about the person's actual qualities.
In plain terms
Flashy lifestyles are mistaken for charisma but don't show who someone really is.
What can you take from it?
Look beyond flashy displays to find genuine character.

Where it applies

  • evaluating leaders
  • critiquing celebrity culture
  • discussing perception

Putting it to work

  • value substance over style
  • question flashy personas

Questions to consider

  • What is real charisma?
  • How do we judge character?

Another view

Style can be part of charisma for performers.

More from Lester Bangs

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  2. What all this posturing and fake glamor results in is a vast detachment and cynicism on the part of the artists. Since it's impossible to have respect for an a…

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  3. By the end of the decade it had become obvious that perhaps the one constant of our variegated and strung-out peer groups was a pervasive sense of self-conscio…

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