Friday, 29 November 2024

Gentlemen

Evelyn Waugh, Decline and Fall (Boston: Back Bay Books 1999; 1928), p. 54.

For generations the British bourgeoisie have spoken of themselves as gentlemen, and by that they have meant, among other things, a self-respecting scorn of irregular perquisites. It is the quality that distinguishes the gentleman from both the artist and the aristocrat.