A standard of living is of the nature of habit. ...it acts almost solely to prevent recession from a scale of conspicuous expenditure that has once become habitual. Thorstein Veblen More Quotes by Thorstein Veblen More Quotes From Thorstein Veblen Labor wants pride and joy in doing good work, a sense of making or doing something beautiful or useful - to be treated with dignity and respect as brother and sister. Thorstein Veblen respect beautiful inspirational Conspicuous consumption of valuable goods is a means of reputability to the gentleman of leisure. Thorstein Veblen leisure gentleman mean The thief or swindler who has gained great wealth by his delinquency has a better chance than the small thief of escaping the rigorous penalty of the law. Thorstein Veblen escaping thieves law The abjectly poor, and all those person whose energies are entirely absorbed by the struggle for daily sustenance, are conservative because they cannot afford the effort of taking thought for the day after tomorrow; just as the highly prosperous are conservative because they have small occasion to be discontented with the situation as it stands today. Thorstein Veblen effort energy struggle The quasi-peaceable gentleman of leisure, then, not only consumes of the staff of life beyond the minimum required for subsistence and physical efficiency, but his consumption also undergoes a specialisation as regards the quality of the goods consumed. He consumes freely and of the best, in food, drink, narcotics, shelter, services, ornaments, apparel, weapons and accoutrements, amusements, amulets, and idols or divinities. Thorstein Veblen quality gentleman idols Only individuals with an aberrant temperament can in the long run retain their self-esteem in the face of the disesteem of their fellows. Thorstein Veblen self-esteem running character The possession of wealth confers honor; it is an invidious distinction. Thorstein Veblen wealth distinction honor Born in iniquity and conceived in sin, the spirit of nationalism has never ceased to bend human institutions to the service of dissension and distress. Thorstein Veblen patriotism politics spirit The institution of a leisure class has emerged gradually during the transition from primitive savagery to barbarism; or more precisely, during the transition from a peaceable to a consistently warlike habit of life. Thorstein Veblen leisure transition class As a matter of selective necessity, man is an agent. He is, in his own apprehension, a centre of unfolding impulsive activity-'teleological activity.' He is an agent seeking in every act the accomplishment of some concrete, objective, impersonal end. By force of being such an agent, he is possessed of a taste for effective work, and a distaste for futile effort. Thorstein Veblen agents effort men The dog commends himself to our favor by affording play to our propensity for mastery Thorstein Veblen mastery dog play Socialism is a dead horse. Thorstein Veblen horse politics wisdom A protective tariff is a typical conspiracy in restraint of trade. Thorstein Veblen typical tariffs libertarian The requirement of conspicuous wastefulness is... present as a constraining norm selectively shaping and sustaining our sense of what is beautiful. Thorstein Veblen norm requirements beautiful The addiction to sports, therefore, in a peculiar degree marks an arrested development in man's moral nature. Thorstein Veblen addiction sports men The chief use of servants is the evidence they afford of the master's ability to pay. Thorstein Veblen masters use pay Abstention from labor is the conventional evidence of wealth and is therefore the conventional mark of social standing. Thorstein Veblen wealth mark social Invention is the mother of necessity. Thorstein Veblen invention favourite mother Instead of investing in the goods as they pass between producer and consumer, as the merchant does, the businessman now invests in the processes of industry. Thorstein Veblen investing process doe No one travelling on a business trip would be missed if he failed to arrive. Thorstein Veblen business-trips business would-be
