--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This mystery of use without consumption…" description: "\"“This mystery of use without consumption, of warmth without combustion, seems like magic, but was merely an ingenious application of the art now happil..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4f/edward-bellamy-21275_art_this-mystery-of-use-without-consumption_1539942.jpg" --- # This mystery of use without consumption, of warmth without… ![“This mystery of use without consumption, of warmth without combustion, seems like magic, but was merely an ingenious application of the art now happily lost but carried to great perfection by your ancestors, of shifting the burden of one's support on the shoulders of others.” quote by Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4f/edward-bellamy-21275_art_this-mystery-of-use-without-consumption_1539942.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4f/edward-bellamy-21275_art_this-mystery-of-use-without-consumption_1539942.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4f/edward-bellamy-21275_art_this-mystery-of-use-without-consumption_1539942.jpg) > ““This mystery of use without consumption, of warmth without combustion, seems like magic, but was merely an ingenious application of the art now happily lost but carried to great perfection by your ancestors, of shifting the burden of one's support on the shoulders of others.”” [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Innovative technologies let us enjoy comforts without direct resource use, but they rely on collective effort and past ingenuity. **In simple terms:** We benefit from others' work without seeing the labor. Key Takeaway Recognize and honor collective contributions. Themes technology community inheritance Mood analytical reflective Type philosophical historical When to use this quote - energy policy - urban planning - historical analysis Key Concepts sustainability innovation social contract Questions to Reflect On - Who truly bears the cost of convenience? - How can we credit unseen contributors? A Different Perspective Reliance on hidden labor can obscure inequality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ## Related quotes > [“Magic. Cheobawn understood magic. Magic was merely the unknown, a wild thing undefined by logic or reason. 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Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) ## More by Edward Bellamy > [Hold the period of youth sacred to education, and the period of maturity, when the physical forces begin to flag, equally sacred to ease…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/hold-the-period-of-youth-sacred-to-education-and-the-period-of/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [Human history, like all great movements, was cyclical, and returned to the point of beginning. The idea of indefinite progress in a right line…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/human-history-like-all-great-movements-was-cyclical-and-returned-to/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [When you come to analyze the love of money which was the general impulse to effort in your day, you find that the dread…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/when-you-come-to-analyze-the-love-of-money-which-was-the-general/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [No republic can long exist unless a substantial equality in the wealth of citizens prevails.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/no-republic-can-long-exist-unless-a-substantial-equality-in-the/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [The primal principle of democracy is the worth and dignity of the individual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/the-primal-principle-of-democracy-is-the-worth-and-dignity-of-the/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [Why, when the world gets to understand about it I expect that two men or two women, or a man and a woman, will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/why-when-the-world-gets-to-understand-about-it-i-expect-that-two-men/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [Equal wealth and equal opportunities of culture have simply made us all members of one class.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/equal-wealth-and-equal-opportunities-of-culture-have-simply-made-us/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [The most dangerous lovers women have are men of Cordis's feminine temperament. 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You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“This mystery of use without consumption, of warmth without combustion, seems like magic, but was merely an ingenious application of the art now happily lost but carried to great perfection by your ancestors, of shifting the burden of one's support on the shoulders of others.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward Bellamy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/this-mystery-of-use-without-consumption-of-warmth-without-combustion/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/this-mystery-of-use-without-consumption-of-warmth-without-combustion/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4f/edward-bellamy-21275_art_this-mystery-of-use-without-consumption_1539942.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4f/edward-bellamy-21275_art_this-mystery-of-use-without-consumption_1539942.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4f/edward-bellamy-21275_art_this-mystery-of-use-without-consumption_1539942.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“This mystery of use without consumption, of warmth without combustion, seems like magic, but was merely an…” — Edward Bellamy", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Edward Bellamy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“This mystery of use without consumption,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/this-mystery-of-use-without-consumption-of-warmth-without-combustion/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/this-mystery-of-use-without-consumption-of-warmth-without-combustion/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```