“ What can be done with such wealth of substance as surrounds us, when a man can no longer cultivate his taste for the magnificent? Do you know what good the greater part of the wealth and the possessions which we rich enjoy, confer upon us? ”
Alexandre Dumas, The Vicomte of Bragelonne (1847). copy citation
| Author | Alexandre Dumas |
|---|---|
| Source | The Vicomte of Bragelonne |
| Topic | wealth possession |
| Date | 1847 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2759/2759-h/2759-h.htm |
Context
“I defy him to do that, for I am ruined already.”
At this singular confession of the superintendent, D’Artagnan cast his glance all round the room; and although he did not open his lips, Fouquet understood him so thoroughly, that he added: “What can be done with such wealth of substance as surrounds us, when a man can no longer cultivate his taste for the magnificent? Do you know what good the greater part of the wealth and the possessions which we rich enjoy, confer upon us? merely to disgust us, by their very splendor even, with everything which does not equal it! Vaux! you will say, and the wonders of Vaux! What of it? What boot these wonders? If I am ruined, how shall I fill with water the urns which my Naiads bear in their arms, or force the air into the lungs of my Tritons?”
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