Robert Crumb Quotes

The wealthy are always surrounded by hangers-on; science and art are as well.

There is no stronger craving in the world than that of the rich for titles, except that of the titled for riches.

When you start hanging out with Jennifer Lopez and Bill Clinton, you can't expect to remain an everyday person.

There's an unspoken rule in affluent circles that suggests you can always define an individual's status by measuring his or her proximity to the most influential person in the room. And as the maxim goes, closer is always better.

I always wanted so much glamour in my life, so I have always been obsessed with class, and from dating a few people who were from old money and a few from new money in my 20s, I just sort of became obsessed with this idea of clueless rich people.

When you become famous, you start getting invites to parties where there are famous athletes and famous rock stars, politicians, people who have tremendous power and affluence. It's not in my DNA, but certainly I have been exposed to it.

I am quite amazed how, when people earn lots of money, they think they have to spend it on things that give them access to the club constituted by the people who are in their tax bracket.

In affluent communities, where each member is keenly aware of his or her place within the Byzantine order, attracting the right friends is a blood sport. Chumming up to influential figures who are in a position to help can determine the course of an entire life.

People in Philadelphia are a world apart from New York. They're very different from people in the New York scene. The New York scene wants your visibility and wants your money.

Class is more than money. Class is also about knowledge.

I don't understand all about New York society. It's only when they are in trouble that I'm really interested.

I don't know if high society is different in other cities, but in Hollywood, important people can't stand to be invited someplace that isn't full of other important people. They don't mind a few unfamous people being present because they make good listeners.

Younger women are willing to go out with high status males. If you look at the kind of women Salman Rushdie attracts, they tend to be intelligent, arty types. For her, it's a kudos thing. The man just wants a good-looking girl because he imagines that when his friends see him, they'll all think, 'Gosh I wish I was him.'

I could pose in fashion commercials as a high society star but politics is a new way of life.

Conspicuous consumption of valuable goods is a means of reputability to the gentleman of leisure.

Money doesn't buy class.

Artistic credentials are au courant in the important business of being seen as cultured, elegant and, of course, stupendously rich.

Gentility is what is left over from rich ancestors after the money is gone.

Art is for the elite because it has a very high price-point of entry. And when one is in that social strata, they look down at illustrators because they just draw things directly for a few hundred dollars, and that's seen as being a bit grubby. Galleries allow artists to stay relatively divorced from the financial aspects of their trade.

Many Indians turned to the gun for the same reason as did some Europeans: the prestige attached to them. Indians, like many members of the European elite, owned guns not simply because they served a function but as a symbol of power and wealth

Wealth has never been a sufficient source of honour in itself. It must be advertised, and the normal medium is obtrusively expensive.

The super-rich watch each other like envious owls, to see who's got a slightly better loafer, a pullover made from some even more absurdly endangered fur. They will go to any lengths to find the best tailors.

The Kennedy lifestyle is something that is looked upon favorably by the elites throughout our culture, both political and social.

In New York, appearance is a form of currency or, at the very least, a calling card. One must look wealthy in order to be recognised as a person of worth.

Fashion Week is a great opportunity to make unimportant people feel like they own the world.