“ Humble people envy us great men, and fancy that our lives are all pleasure. ”
William Makepeace Thackeray, The Luck of Barry Lyndon (1844). copy citation
| Author | William Makepeace Thackeray |
|---|---|
| Source | The Luck of Barry Lyndon |
| Topic | pleasure envy |
| Date | 1844 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/4558/pg4558-images.html |
Context
“I also in this year made arrangements for purchasing the Polwellan estate and mines in Cornwall from Sir John Trecothick, for L70,000—an imprudent bargain, which was afterwards the cause to me of much dispute and litigation. The troubles of property, the rascality of agents, the quibbles of lawyers, are endless. Humble people envy us great men, and fancy that our lives are all pleasure. Many a time in the course of my prosperity I have sighed for the days of my meanest fortune, and envied the boon companions at my table, with no clothes to their backs but such as my credit supplied them, without a guinea but what came from my pocket;”
source
