Samuel Smiles：Thrift, Excerpt 495

One of the most demoralizing practices of modern refinement is the "large party" system. People cram their houses with respectable mobs; thus conforming to a ridiculous custom. Rousseau, with all his aberrations of mind, said, "I had rather have my house too small for a day, than too large for a twelvemonth." Fashion exactly reverses the maxim; and domestic mischief is often begun with a large dwelling and suitable accommodations. The misfortune consists in this,--that we never look below our level for an example, but always above it.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14418
Locator：Excerpt 495 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Short excerpt

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