The trouble with righting some wrongs is that it makes the remaining ones seem even more unbearable.
A. A. GillRead
The super-rich watch each other like envious owls, to see who's got a slightly better loafer, a pullover made from some even more absurdly endangered fur. They will go to any lengths to find the best tailors.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The super-rich are constantly comparing their luxuries and status to one another.
In this quote, A. A. Gill critiques the behavior of the ultra-wealthy, suggesting that they obsessively monitor each other's possessions and fashion choices, competing for superiority in wealth and style. This observation highlights the absurdity and superficiality of their pursuits, indicating a lifestyle driven by envy and the desire for status rather than genuine fulfillment or happiness.
Themes
WealthEnvyLuxuryStatusSuper-Rich
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about consumerism, one might quote this to illustrate the pitfalls of excessive wealth.
More from A. A. Gill
All quotes →If the world were to end tomorrow and we could choose to save only one thing as the explanation and memorial to who we were, then we couldn't do better than the Natural History Museum, although it wouldn't contain a single human. The systematic Linnean order, the vast inquisitiveness and range of collated knowledge and beauty would tell all that is the best of us.
A. A. GillRead
Sport is how poor kids from poor countries pass through the eye of the needle to riches and recognition.
A. A. GillRead
Being able to afford everything you desire is not, by any means, the worst thing that can happen to you. But, depressingly, and more profoundly, neither is it the best.
A. A. GillRead
America didn’t bypass or escape civilization. It did something far more profound, far cleverer: it simply changed what civilization could be.
A. A. GillRead
Celebrity is a national drama whose characters' parts and plots are written by the tabloids, gossip columnists, websites and interactive buttons. The famous don't actually have to turn up to their own lives at all.
A. A. GillRead
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