“ Pure praises do not provide a comfortable existence; it is necessary to add something solid, and the best way to praise is to praise with cash-in-hand. He's a man, it's true, whose insight is very slight, who talks nonsense about everything and applauds only for the wrong reasons but his money makes up for his judgments. ”
Molière, The Bourgeois Gentleman (1670). copy citation
| Author | Molière |
|---|---|
| Source | The Bourgeois Gentleman |
| Topic | insight money |
| Date | 1670 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by Philip Dwight Jones |
| Weblink | https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Middle-Class_Gentleman |
Context
“and it is an exquisite delight to receive the praises of the well-informed.
MUSIC MASTER: I agree, and I enjoy them as you do. There is surely nothing more agreeable than the applause you speak of; but that incense does not provide a living. Pure praises do not provide a comfortable existence; it is necessary to add something solid, and the best way to praise is to praise with cash-in-hand. He's a man, it's true, whose insight is very slight, who talks nonsense about everything and applauds only for the wrong reasons but his money makes up for his judgments. He has discernment in his purse. His praises are in cash, and this ignorant bourgeois is worth more to us, as you see, than the educated nobleman who introduced us here.
DANCING MASTER: There is some truth in what you say;”
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