Moses-scale imagination is sustainable only with a bottomless public treasury.

Evidence

But imagination on the Moses scale was feasible only on a public scale. Attempting to carry out his plans, Paul spent the pool’s revenues as fast as they came in. Robert’s grandiose plans cost far more than he had expected, but because his money came from the state treasury, though he spent on an unprecedented scale, overspent his budget, poured funds allocated for an entire bathhouse into its foundations alone, there was always more where that came from. For Paul there wasn’t—particularly after his father died. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 2480

Categorization

• XREF: Builds directly on the public-authority wealth theme of ch3 — the state treasury is what let Moses’ immense dreams outlast budgeting.
• DEEPTHINKING: The paired-brothers device reveals that Moses’ genius was inseparable from the unlimited public purse — a structural, not personal, precondition.