Success Quote by James Loeb

Anxiety, disguised as due diligence, is doing most of the work here. Loeb frames his project as a "large undertaking" and immediately reaches for the protective armor of "distinguished scholars". It is the classic move of an outsider stepping into a domain policed by credentials: signal humility, borrow authority, and preempt the inevitable complaint that money is trying to buy its way into culture.

The sentence is engineered to sound reluctant rather than acquisitive. "Before venturing" suggests risk and restraint, not ambition. "Consulted" implies he asked permission, not just advice. Even "desirability" is a shrewd word choice: he isn't asking whether it can be done, but whether it should be done, shifting the conversation from competence to legitimacy. That matters because Loeb, a businessman, is entering the world of classical scholarship at a moment when the modern philanthropist is becoming a major cultural actor. The subtext is a quiet negotiation between capital and expertise: I will fund the thing, but you will bless it.

Context seals the intent. Loeb is best known for the Loeb Classical Library, a series that democratized access to Greek and Latin texts through reliable editions with facing-page translations. That mission threatened gatekeepers by design. This opening gesture toward scholarly consultation isn’t just politeness; it’s a strategic inoculation against elitist suspicion. He’s telling academia: I’m not replacing you. I’m making you legible to everyone else.