--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A man must have a less than ordinary…" description: "\"“A man must have a less than ordinary share of sense that would furnish such plain and common rooms with silver-footed couches and purple coverlets and..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de9/plutarch-597_architecture_a-man-must-have-a-less-than-ordinary-sha_1999370.jpg" --- # A man must have a less than ordinary share of sense that… ![“A man must have a less than ordinary share of sense that would furnish such plain and common rooms with silver-footed couches and purple coverlets and gold and silver plate.” quote by Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de9/plutarch-597_architecture_a-man-must-have-a-less-than-ordinary-sha_1999370.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de9/plutarch-597_architecture_a-man-must-have-a-less-than-ordinary-sha_1999370.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de9/plutarch-597_architecture_a-man-must-have-a-less-than-ordinary-sha_1999370.jpg) > ““A man must have a less than ordinary share of sense that would furnish such plain and common rooms with silver-footed couches and purple coverlets and gold and silver plate.”” [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote satirically describes extravagant tastes in furnishings, mocking excess and pretentiousness. **In simple terms:** Excessive luxury is absurd. Key Takeaway Value substance over showy displays. Themes luxury excess satire Mood sarcastic humorous Type cultural observational When to use this quote - interior design - celebrity culture - high‑end markets Key Concepts social status materialism Questions to Reflect On - Why do we chase status symbols? - What does true comfort feel like? A Different Perspective Such opulence can mask underlying emptiness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Architecture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/architecture/) [Furnish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/furnish/) [Gold and silver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gold-and-silver/) [Interior design](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interior-design/) [Ostentation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ostentation/) ## Related quotes > [A man of ordinary talent will always be ordinary, whether he travels or not; but a man of superior talent will go to pieces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/a-man-of-ordinary-talent-will-always-be-ordinary-whether-he-travels-2/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [Man is made of ordinary things, and habit is his nurse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schiller/man-is-made-of-ordinary-things-and-habit-is-his-nurse/) [Friedrich Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schiller/) > [Things happen in 'If This is a Man' that are beyond ordinary daily experience, but it is still us to whom they are happening,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/things-happen-in-if-this-is-a-man-that-are-beyond-ordinary-daily/) [Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/) > [True art is the intermediary between man's ordinary nature and his higher potentialities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-f-schumacher/true-art-is-the-intermediary-between-man-s-ordinary-nature-and-his/) [E. 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But Philolaus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/this-excerpt-is-presented-as-reproduced-by-copernicus-in-the-preface/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) > [It is part of a good man to do great and noble deeds, though he risk everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/it-is-part-of-a-good-man-to-do-great-and-noble-deeds-though-he-risk/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) > [I am whatever was, or is, or will be; and my veil no mortal ever took up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/i-am-whatever-was-or-is-or-will-be-and-my-veil-no-mortal-ever-took-up/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) > [The pilot cannot mitigate the billows or calm the winds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/the-pilot-cannot-mitigate-the-billows-or-calm-the-winds/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) > [“In Springtime, O Dionysos, To thy holy temple come, To Elis with thy Graces, Rushing with thy bull-foot, come, Noble Bull, Noble Bull”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/in-springtime-o-dionysos-to-thy-holy-temple-come-to-elis-with-thy/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) [Explore all 451 Plutarch quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) ## More Architecture quotes > [The bones of my architecture are very much related to the structure, to the physical fact of how a building can stand up; it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/santiago-calatrava/the-bones-of-my-architecture-are-very-much-related-to-the-structure/) [Santiago Calatrava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/santiago-calatrava/) > [A man walks down the street. 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