"An object in possession seldom retains the same charm that it had in pursuit"
About this Quote
Desire, Pliny suggests, is an optical illusion with a deadline. The charm doesn’t live in the object so much as in the chase’s chemistry: anticipation, projection, the sweet irresponsibility of not yet having to live with what you want. Possession collapses possibility into fact. Once the thing is yours, it has to submit to daylight, maintenance, and comparison. The imagination, which had been doing most of the decorating, gets laid off.
Pliny the Elder wasn’t peddling self-help; he was cataloging the world with a Roman administrator’s eye for how people actually behave. Writing in an empire swollen with spoils, new commodities, and status goods, he watched luxury turn from marvel into habit. In that setting, “pursuit” isn’t just romantic longing; it’s a civic engine. Rome runs on acquisition, and Pliny’s line reads like a cool reprimand to a culture that confuses wanting with worth. The subtext is almost moral: the thrill you’re chasing isn’t evidence the object is valuable, only that your mind is restless.
The sentence works because it’s quietly ruthless. “Seldom” concedes exceptions (some things do deepen with ownership), but it doesn’t let us hide behind them. “Charm” is the dagger: a word for enchantment, not utility. Pliny implies that much of what we call taste is merely the afterglow of pursuit, and that the hangover of possession is the moment we discover whether we loved the thing or the wanting.
Pliny the Elder wasn’t peddling self-help; he was cataloging the world with a Roman administrator’s eye for how people actually behave. Writing in an empire swollen with spoils, new commodities, and status goods, he watched luxury turn from marvel into habit. In that setting, “pursuit” isn’t just romantic longing; it’s a civic engine. Rome runs on acquisition, and Pliny’s line reads like a cool reprimand to a culture that confuses wanting with worth. The subtext is almost moral: the thrill you’re chasing isn’t evidence the object is valuable, only that your mind is restless.
The sentence works because it’s quietly ruthless. “Seldom” concedes exceptions (some things do deepen with ownership), but it doesn’t let us hide behind them. “Charm” is the dagger: a word for enchantment, not utility. Pliny implies that much of what we call taste is merely the afterglow of pursuit, and that the hangover of possession is the moment we discover whether we loved the thing or the wanting.
Quote Details
| Topic | Latin Phrases |
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