Luxury

"Coarse are his meals, the fortune of the chase, Amidst the running stream he slakes his thirst, Toils all the day, and, at th' approach of night On the first friendly bank he throws him down, Or rests his head upon a rock 'till morn: Then rises fresh, pursues his wonted game, And if the following day he chance to find A new repast, or an untasted spring, Blesses his stars, and thinks it luxury."

"The superfluity of the rich is necessary to the poor. If you hold on to superfluous items, then, your are keeping what belongs to someone else."

"To treat a poor wretch with a bottle of Burgundy, and fill his snuff-box, is like giving a pair of laced ruffles to a man that has never a shirt on his back."

"Sofas 'twas half a sin to sit upon, So costly were they; carpets, every stitch Of workmanship so rare, they make you wish You could glide o'er them like a golden fish."

"Blest hour! It was a luxury—to be!"

"O Luxury! thou curst by Heaven's decree."

"Such dainties to them, their health it might hurt: It's like sending them ruffles, when wanting a shirt."

"One of history's few iron laws is that luxuries tend to become necessities and to spawn new obligations. Once people get used to a certain luxury, they take it for granted. Then they begin to count on it. Finally, they reach a point where they can't live without it."

"Then there is that glorious Epicurean paradox, uttered by my friend, the Historian in one of his flashing moments: "Give us the luxuries of life, and we will dispense with its necessaries.""

"Fell luxury! more perilous to youth Than storms or quicksands, poverty or chains."

"Luxury and dissipation, soft and gentle as their approaches are, and silently as they throw their silken chains about the heart, enslave it more than the most active and turbulent vices."

"The long anticipated luxury, once enjoyed, becomes a necessity that must needs be gratified."

"On his weary couch Fat Luxury, sick of the night's debauch, Lay groaning, fretful at the obtrusive beam That through his lattice peeped derisively."

"Luxury is an enticing pleasure, a bastard mirth, which hath honey in her mouth, gall in her heart, and a sting in her tail."

"Where could I find enough leather to cover the whole earth? But by the leather of one pair of sandals the earth will be covered."

"Rings put upon his fingers, A most delicious banquet by his bed, And brave attendants near him when he wakes, Would not the beggar then forget himself?"

"Falsely luxurious, will not man awake?"

"There is a luxury in self-reproach. When we blame ourselves we feel that no one else has the right to blame us."