--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People have declaimed against luxury for…" description: "\"“People have declaimed against luxury for two thousand years, in verse and prose, and people have always delighted in it.”\" — Voltaire" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/986/voltaire-173_luxury_people-have-declaimed-against-luxury-for_1109273.png" --- # People have declaimed against luxury for two thousand… ![“People have declaimed against luxury for two thousand years, in verse and prose, and people have always delighted in it.” quote by Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/986/voltaire-173_luxury_people-have-declaimed-against-luxury-for_1109273.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/986/voltaire-173_luxury_people-have-declaimed-against-luxury-for_1109273.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/986/voltaire-173_luxury_people-have-declaimed-against-luxury-for_1109273.png) > ““People have declaimed against luxury for two thousand years, in verse and prose, and people have always delighted in it.”” [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Luxury has been criticized for centuries, yet humans remain drawn to it. **In simple terms:** People critique luxury but still love it. Key Takeaway Recognize the tension between critique and desire. Themes luxury human nature critique Mood thoughtful ironic Type philosophical satirical When to use this quote - consumer behavior - social status - ethical consumption Key Concepts philosophy economics psychology Questions to Reflect On - Why do we criticize what we secretly desire? - Can luxury be ethical? A Different Perspective Luxury criticism can ignore practical benefits. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Luxury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luxury/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Thousand years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-years/) ## Related quotes > [Luxury has been railed at for two thousand years, in verse and in prose, and it has always been loved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/luxury-has-been-railed-at-for-two-thousand-years-in-verse-and-in/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [To be original is to discover the commonplace of a thousand years--to face at first the sneer that no one would have thought of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-stanley-lee/to-be-original-is-to-discover-the-commonplace-of-a-thousand-years-to/) [Gerald Stanley Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-stanley-lee/) > [The germs of existence contained in this spot of earth, with ample food, and ample room to expand in, would fill millions of worlds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/the-germs-of-existence-contained-in-this-spot-of-earth-with-ample/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [“Revelation Chapter 18 details the many goods which are sold through the Daughter of Babylon’s ports. 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Even now a letter comes from a place I don’t know, from someone with my name and postmarked years ago, while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/memory-revises-me-even-now-a-letter-comes-from-a-place-i-don-t-know/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) ## More by Voltaire > [In every province, the chief occupations, in order of importance, are lovemaking, malicious gossip, and talking nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/in-every-province-the-chief-occupations-in-order-of-importance-are/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Fanaticism, to which men are so much inclined, has always served not only to render them more brutalized but more wicked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/fanaticism-to-which-men-are-so-much-inclined-has-always-served-not/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [History is the study of the world's crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/history-is-the-study-of-the-world-s-crime/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [We’re neither pure, nor wise, nor good; we do the best we know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/we-re-neither-pure-nor-wise-nor-good-we-do-the-best-we-know/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is with books as with men: a very small number play a great part, the rest are lost in the multitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-with-books-as-with-men-a-very-small-number-play-a-great-part/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Meslier was the most singular phenomenon ever seen among all the meteors fatal to the Christian religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/meslier-was-the-most-singular-phenomenon-ever-seen-among-all-the/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." 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I got involved in digital art and neon painting and put on shows of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giorgio-moroder/i-had-an-idea-for-a-technologically-advanced-luxury-watch-i-got/) [Giorgio Moroder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giorgio-moroder/) > [It's tragic what America has become because there is a great segment of society that now resents luxury and success and achievement by others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-leach/it-s-tragic-what-america-has-become-because-there-is-a-great-segment/) [Robin Leach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-leach/) > [“I've always been after the trappings of great luxury. But all I've got hold of are the trappings of great poverty. I've got hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-cook/i-ve-always-been-after-the-trappings-of-great-luxury-but-all-i-ve-got/) [Peter Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-cook/) > [For me, the melancholy of the late XXth Century is walking late at night by the Mont Blanc pen store and seeing these things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/for-me-the-melancholy-of-the-late-xxth-century-is-walking-late-at/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [Is the minor convenience of allowing the present generation the luxury of doubling its energy consumption every 10 years worth the major hazard of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-r-brower/is-the-minor-convenience-of-allowing-the-present-generation-the/) [David R. 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Nothing is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-beckmann/it-is-of-course-a-luxury-to-create-art-and-on-top-of-this-to-insist/) [Max Beckmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-beckmann/) > [“what a luxury to be alone once more,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/what-a-luxury-to-be-alone-once-more/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“There is an inverse relationship between the time spent purchasing luxury items such as cars and clothes and the time spent planning one’s financial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-j-stanley/there-is-an-inverse-relationship-between-the-time-spent-purchasing/) [Thomas J. Stanley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-j-stanley/) > [“Looking out the rain-fogged window at the gray November day, Mary felt almost grateful for the snug warmth of her well-heated chamber. Escape, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-george/looking-out-the-rain-fogged-window-at-the-gray-november-day-mary-felt/) [Margaret George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-george/) > [“In general, poor is polite and rich is rude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/in-general-poor-is-polite-and-rich-is-rude/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [In a world where lifelong employment in the same job is a thing of the past, creativity is not a luxury. It is essential…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-robinson/in-a-world-where-lifelong-employment-in-the-same-job-is-a-thing-of/) [Ken Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-robinson/) [Browse all 1,926 Luxury quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luxury/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“People have declaimed against luxury for two thousand years, in verse and prose, and people have always delighted in it.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Voltaire" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/people-have-declaimed-against-luxury-for-two-thousand-years-in-verse/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Luxury" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/people-have-declaimed-against-luxury-for-two-thousand-years-in-verse/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/986/voltaire-173_luxury_people-have-declaimed-against-luxury-for_1109273.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/986/voltaire-173_luxury_people-have-declaimed-against-luxury-for_1109273.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/986/voltaire-173_luxury_people-have-declaimed-against-luxury-for_1109273.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“People have declaimed against luxury for two thousand years, in verse and prose, and people have always…” — Voltaire", "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": "Voltaire", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“People have declaimed against luxury for...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/people-have-declaimed-against-luxury-for-two-thousand-years-in-verse/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/people-have-declaimed-against-luxury-for-two-thousand-years-in-verse/#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 } } ] } ```