"There's nothing quite like tobacco: it's the passion of decent folk, and whoever lives without tobacco doesn't deserve to live"
About this Quote
The second clause sharpens into deliberate overkill: “whoever lives without tobacco doesn’t deserve to live.” That extremity is classic comic inflation, a parody of absolute statements usually reserved for faith, honor, or patriotism. Moliere is ventriloquizing the zealot’s voice, letting a small luxury borrow the rhetoric of salvation. The line winks at the audience: if you’ve ever heard someone defend a habit with the fervor of a philosopher-king, you recognize the type immediately.
Context matters. In 17th-century France, tobacco was a New World novelty turned craze, wrapped in medical claims and courtly chic. Its spread created the perfect target for satire: a commodity that could be sold as health, status, and sophistication all at once. Moliere uses it as a prop to show how culture manufactures “needs,” then recruits morality to police them. The punchline isn’t anti-tobacco so much as anti-pretension: a reminder that society’s “decencies” are often just addictions with better branding.
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite | Cite this Quote |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Moliere. (n.d.). There's nothing quite like tobacco: it's the passion of decent folk, and whoever lives without tobacco doesn't deserve to live. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/theres-nothing-quite-like-tobacco-its-the-passion-12639/
Chicago Style
Moliere. "There's nothing quite like tobacco: it's the passion of decent folk, and whoever lives without tobacco doesn't deserve to live." FixQuotes. Accessed February 3, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/theres-nothing-quite-like-tobacco-its-the-passion-12639/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"There's nothing quite like tobacco: it's the passion of decent folk, and whoever lives without tobacco doesn't deserve to live." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/theres-nothing-quite-like-tobacco-its-the-passion-12639/. Accessed 3 Feb. 2026.






