Thorstein Veblen：The Theory of the Leisure Class, Excerpt 44

Personal service is still an element of great economic importance, especially as regards the distribution and consumption of goods; but its relative importance even in this direction is no doubt less than it once was. The best development of this vicarious leisure lies in the past rather than in the present; and its best expression in the present is to be found in the scheme of life of the upper leisure class. To this class the modern culture owes much in the way of the conservation of traditions, usages, and habits of thought which belong on a more archaic cultural plane, so far as regards their widest acceptance and their most effective development.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/833
Locator：Excerpt 44 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Short excerpt

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