The abjectly poor, and all those person whose energies are entirely absorbed by the struggle for daily sustenance, are conservative because they cann…

- Thorstein Veblen

The chief use of servants is the evidence they afford of the master's ability to pay.

- Thorstein Veblen

The possession of wealth confers honor; it is an invidious distinction.

- Thorstein Veblen

The thief or swindler who has gained great wealth by his delinquency has a better chance than the small thief of escaping the rigorous penalty of the…

- Thorstein Veblen

Labor wants pride and joy in doing good work, a sense of making or doing something beautiful or useful - to be treated with dignity and respect as br…

- Thorstein Veblen

Only individuals with an aberrant temperament can in the long run retain their self-esteem in the face of the disesteem of their fellows.

- Thorstein Veblen

The quasi-peaceable gentleman of leisure, then, not only consumes of the staff of life beyond the minimum required for subsistence and physical effic…

- Thorstein Veblen

Beauty is commonly a gratification of our sense of costliness masquerading under the name of beauty.

- Thorstein Veblen

With the exception of the instinct of self-preservation, the propensity for emulation is probably the strongest and most alert and persistent of the …

- Thorstein Veblen