Thorstein Veblen：The Theory of the Leisure Class, Excerpt 30

This direct, subjective value of leisure and of other evidences of wealth is no doubt in great part secondary and derivative. It is in part a reflex of the utility of leisure as a means of gaining the respect of others, and in part it is the result of a mental substitution. The performance of labour has been accepted as a conventional evidence of inferior force; therefore it comes itself, by a mental short-cut, to be regarded as intrinsically base.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/833
Locator：Excerpt 30 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Short excerpt

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