“It frequently happens that an element of the standard of living which set out with being primarily wasteful, ends with becoming, in the apprehension of the consumer, a necessary of life.”

—  Thorstein Veblen , book The Theory of the Leisure Class

Source: The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899), p. 99

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "It frequently happens that an element of the standard of living which set out with being primarily wasteful, ends with …" by Thorstein Veblen?
Thorstein Veblen photo
Thorstein Veblen 41
American academic 1857–1929

Related quotes

J. Howard Moore photo

“In the nature of living beings there are two elements—that element which impels a living creature to move in behalf or in the interests of itself, and that which prompts or prevents movement out of consideration for others. The former of these two elements is called egoism, the latter, altruism.”

J. Howard Moore (1862–1916)

Source: Better-World Philosophy: A Sociological Synthesis (1899), Egoism and Altruism, p. 92

Adam Smith photo

“The annual labour of every nation is the fund which originally supplies it with all the necessaries and conveniences of life which it annually consumes.”

Adam Smith (1723–1790) Scottish moral philosopher and political economist

Introduction and Plan of the Work, p. 1.
(1776)

Quentin Crisp photo

“The consuming desire of most human beings is deliberately to place their entire life in the hands of some other person. For this purpose they frequently choose someone who doesn’t even want the beastly thing.”

Quentin Crisp book The Naked Civil Servant

Source: The Naked Civil Servant (1968), Ch. 16

Charles Spurgeon photo

“The truest lengthening of life is to live while we live, wasting no time but using every hour for the highest ends. So be it this day.”

Charles Spurgeon (1834–1892) British preacher, author, pastor and evangelist

Faith's Checkbook entry for June 22.

“In other words, you must not waste a second of this deliciousness which for him was life and being a great poet. That you savor every, everything that happened. I want to get ripe.”

Maurice Sendak (1928–2012) American illustrator and writer of children's books

NOW interview (2004)
Context: The ripeness was a letter that John Keats wrote to his brother who emigrated to America describing what it was like to have a peach or piece of a peach in his mouth. And it's one of the sexiest things you will ever read of how slow you should take the peach. Don't rush it. Let it go through your palette. Let it lie on your tongue. Let it melt a little bit. Let it run from the corners. It's like describing the most incredible sex orgy. And then, you bite. But, it must be so ripe. It must be so delicious. In other words, you must not waste a second of this deliciousness which for him was life and being a great poet. That you savor every, everything that happened. I want to get ripe.

Frederick Winslow Taylor photo

“The writer feels that management is also destined to become more of an art, and that many of the, elements which are now believed to be outside the field of exact knowledge will soon be standardized tabulated, accepted, and used, as are now many of the elements of engineering.”

Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856–1915) American mechanical engineer and tennis player

Source: Shop Management, 1903, p. 1373.

“Running an organisation… generates problems, which have no necessary (and often an opposed) relationship to the professed or "original" goals of the organization. The day-to-day behaviour of the group becomes centered around specific problems and proximate goals, which have primarily an internal relevance. Then, since these activities come to consume an increasing proportion of the time and thoughts of participants, they are-from the point of view of actual behaviour – substituted for the professed goal.”

Philip Selznick (1919–2010) American sociologist

Source: "An Approach to a Theory of Bureaucracy," 1943, p. 48; as cited in: Owen A. Jones. The Sources of Goal Incongruence in a Public Service Network. 2013. p. 23

Dr. Seuss photo

“Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope.”

Dr. Seuss (1904–1991) American children's writer and illustrator, co-founder of Beginner Books
J. Howard Moore photo

“The acts of living beings are, as a rule, neither all altruism nor all egoism. They consist generally of blends of the two elements, with a preponderance of egoism. It is frequently impossible, too, to estimate just the amount of each element in a given act. An act which may seem altruistic may be in reality only sly and far-sighted egoism.”

J. Howard Moore (1862–1916)

Source: Better-World Philosophy: A Sociological Synthesis (1899), Egoism and Altruism, p. 96

Related topics