"The sanctuary and the sacred apparatus are so contrived as not to enhance the comfort or fullness of life of the vicarious consumer, or at any rate not to convey the impression that the end of their consumption is the consumer's comfort. For the end of vicarious consumption is to enhance, not the fullness of life of the consumer, but the pecuniary repute of the master for whose behoof the consumption takes place. Therefore priestly vestments are notoriously expensive, ornate, and inconvenient; and in the cults where the priestly servitor of the divinity is not conceived to serve him in the capacity of consort, they are of an austere, comfortless fashion. And such it is felt that they should be."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
p.121-122
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
The Theory of the Leisure Class
308 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by The Theory of the Leisure Class →
Related Quotes
"The means through which a change is wrought in men's apprehension of what is good and right is in large part the pres…"
"The institution of ownership has begun with the ownership of persons, primarily women. The incentives to acquiring su…"
"In modern civilized communities... the norm of reputability imposed by the upper class extends its coercive influence…"
"Some... higher wants, as for instance the habitual use of certain stimulants, or the need of salvation (in the eschat…"
"In aesthetic theory it might be extremely difficult, if not quite impracticable, to draw a line between the canon of …"
"The possession of wealth, which was at the outset valued simply as an evidence of efficiency, becomes, in popular app…"
"Chief among the honorable employments in any feudal community is warfare; and priestly service is commonly second to …"
"At an earlier... stage of barbarism, the leisure class is found in a less differentiated form. Neither the class dist…"
"If we go a step back of this exemplary barbarian culture, into the lower stages of barbarism, we no longer find the l…"
"Altered conditions may increase the facility of life for the group as a whole, but the redistribution will usually re…"