“Society is composed of two great classes: those who have more dinners than appetite, and those who have more appetite than dinners.”Nicolas Chamfort · Maxime și cugetări · 1795 · Maxima 13
Society is divided between those with excess resources and those with insufficient resources.
Chamfort makes a sharp economic and social observation. The upper class has 'table' (money, resources) in abundance but no appetite (dinner)—they are full and bored. The lower class has appetite but no table—they are hungry and deprived. It is an image of fundamental imbalance. For instance, a rich person who orders food and leaves it untouched, while a poor person scavenges for scraps.
Why it matters It makes us reflect on the inequality and waste in contemporary society.