“But in some ways Ravelston was not even like a moneyed person. The fatty degeneration of the spirit which goes with wealth had missed him, or he had escaped it by conscious effort. Indeed his whole life was a struggle to escape it. It was for this reason that he gave up his time and a large part of his income to editing an unpopular Socialist monthly. For himself he lived upon eight hundred a year or thereabouts. Even of this income he was acutely ashamed. It was not, he realised, exactly a proletarian income; but he had learned to get along on less. Eight hundred a year was a minimum living wage to him as two pounds a week was to Gordon.”
George Orwell, “Keep the Aspidistra Flying”, 1936.
A Bird's Eye View of Fashion, Food, Travel, Culture, Beverage and Curiosity 