Joseph von Sonnenfels: „Das Bild des Adels“, 1767:

I am certain that none among you succumbs to the unworthy delusion that the essence of his nobility can only be sought in an accurately kept register of his lineage … From their origin on, all human beings have an equal number of ancestors, as they all descend from one and the same Father. Now what if the larger mass of people have neglected to record the line of their descent, or an accident has interrupted and put an end to their efforts; just conjure up in your thoughts one of those potential countless dangers by means of which the proof of your provenance could also be destroyed! … Now you are made equal with the rest of the human race that you, in the absence of such fragile things, are wont to call rabble – Do you see on what a trivial matter the advantage, on account of which you nonetheless think so much of yourselves, amounts to… Thus was it observed how they [the nobility] took refuge in an immoderate expenditure of fortune, whether they possessed one or not … They sought succour for their greatness in the shimmer of their apparel, in the throng of their retinue and their servants, … in the splendour of their palaces, in the number of the rooms … and in the ignominious prerogative of dividing their life between the table, sleep and diversions. … It became noble to be impractical and incapable of dressing without the aid of servants; it became noble to be driven from the threshold of one’s house to the house next door but to make a day’s journey out of passing from one’s bedroom to the dining room; it became noble to be disgusted by ordinary food and retain a palate for delicacies alone; it became noble to be an idler, behaving like one ailing and as if made for fattening.