Advice from his father to Daniel Defoe, author of "Robinson Crusoe".
"The calamities of life are shared between the rich & poor, but the middle class has the fewest disasters. The middle class has fewer illnesses of the body & mind, than the rich, who because of indulgence & wantonness are prone to it as are the poor from want & hard labour. The middle class is calculated to promote a life of virtue & temperate enjoyment. In this station, people go through their life smoothly & comfortably out of it."
From Charles Lamb's essay "Old China".
My cousin Bridget (probably his older sister Mary) said "I wish the good old times would come again, when we were not quite so rich. Not poor, but there was a middle state in which I am sure we were a great deal happier. A purchase is but a purchase now that you have money to spare. Formerly it used to be a triumph. When we coveted a cheap luxury, we were used to have a debate two or three days before & to weigh the for & against, & think what we might spare it out of & what saving we could hit upon, that should be an equivalent. A thing was worth buying then, when we felt the money that we paid for it."
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