"Under the caste system of India the lowest form of caste would eat off a banana leaf.
The next highest would eat off a ceramic dish.
The next highest had a glazed dish.
Then perhaps a brass dish, a bell-bronze one, then a plated one, then maybe a gold one.
But then, when you got to the very highest, they ate off a banana leaf again"
Good Quotes: Charles Eames
Comments (6)
Daily Email
Top Tours
- Beth's Family Townhouse
- Studio Aalto: Alvar Aalto's Design Office
- Vero & Thierry's SoHo Chalet
- Jessica's Vintage Vibe
- Ray's Staircase Renovation
Top Posts
Today in Marketplace
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
ah, grasshopper you have much to learn, now take your feet off my vintage lcw.
seriously speaking this is such an aware way to look at all things in this life, and it is so easy to forget. thanks for the reminder.
A semi-ironic quote, in hindsight, since a similar upper/lower caste circuit has been traveled by the Eames own work... originally intended for the masses, now squarely out of the reach of most.
There's a similar principle in karate. You start with a white belt and you move through various color levels until you attain a black belt. When you first get it, it's stiff and solid black. You're never to wash it and through your own sweat and movement it will start to soften and fray and eventually it will start to look white again. You're always trying to maintain a beginner's mind - then you have room to grow. No matter how much you learn, it always comes back to the basics. If you don't have a good, solid foundation you're in trouble. Um, er, what were we talking about? Couches! Valances! Soffits! oh my.
rr-- I think the karate reference is especially apt, given the competition threads! ;)
This leaf business must annoy the gold bowl people to no end.
Ah, but belief in reincarnation has created the ultimate in "recurring revenue" for them!! ;)