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A Veblen Treasury: From Leisure Class to War, Peace, and Capitalism

Book by Thorstein Veblen · 13 quotes · Aesthetic, Possession, Wealth

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A Veblen Treasury: From Leisure Class to War, Peace, and Capitalism Quotes

“The superior excellence imputed to the book, which imitates the products of antique and obsolete processes, is conceived to be chiefly a superior utility in the aesthetic respect; but it is not unusual to find a well-bred book-lover insisting that the clumsier product is also more serviceable as a vehicle of printed speech.”

“The changing styles are the expression of a restless search for something which shall commend itself to our aesthetic sense; but as each innovation is subject to the selective action of the norm of conspicuous waste, the range within which innovation can take place is somewhat restricted. The innovation must not only be more beautiful, or perhaps oftener less offensive, than that which it displaces, but it must also come up to the accepted standard of expensiveness.”