The things we do!

A man of culture and
refinement, born with an income of a hundred thousand a year, is not
tempted to become either manufacturer, lawyer, or physician. For
want of other occupation he loiters about, entertains his friends,
chats, indulges in the tastes and hobbies of an amateur, is bored or
enjoys himself. As a result one of society's great forces is thus
lost to the nation. In this way the best and largest acquisition of
the past, the heaviest accumulation of material and of moral
capital, remain unproductive. In a pure democracy the upper
branches of the social tree, not only the old ones but the young
ones, remain sterile. When a vigorous branch passes above the rest
and reaches the top it ceases to bear fruit. The ?lite of the
nation is thus condemned to constant and irremediable failures
because it cannot find a suitable outlet for its activity. It wants
no other outlet, for in all directions its rival, who are born below
it, can serve as usefully and as well as itself.


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