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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Father Goriot by Honore de Balzac: they cannot have all that they want, they make up for it, it
would seem, by squandering what they have. To state the matter
simply--a student is far more careful of his hat than of his
coat, because the latter being a comparatively costly article of
dress, it is in the nature of things that a tailor should be a
creditor; but it is otherwise with the hatter; the sums of money
spent with him are so modest, that he is the most independent and
unmanageable of his tribe, and it is almost impossible to bring
him to terms. The young man in the balcony of a theatre who
displays a gorgeous waistcoat for the benefit of the fair owners
of opera glasses, has very probably no socks in his wardrobe, for
 Father Goriot |