VALÈRE
You must learn, maître Jacques, you and your likes, that to invite to a table overladen with food is the act of an assassin; in order to show yourself the friend of those whom you ask, frugality must reign over the repast you give; and, following the old saying, one must eat to live, and not live to eat (il faut manger pour vivre, et non pas vivre pour manger).
HARPAGON
Ah! that is well said! Come, let me embrace you for that word. It is the finest sentence I have heard in my life. One must live to eat, and not eat to li . . . No, that is not it. What was it you said?
VALÈRE
That one must eat to live, and not live to eat.
HARPAGON
Yes. Do you hear? Who is the great man who said that?
VALÈRE
I do not now remember his name.

In this exchange from Molière's play "The Miser," Valère delivers a line that captures the essence of frugality and restraint. By citing the adage "one must eat to live, and not live to eat," he underscores the virtue of moderation, especially in the context of Harpagon's party. Harpagon, a comically miserliness character, finds immense delight in the saying, illustrating his obsession with thrift even as he fails to grasp the correct phrasing. The humor arises from his enthusiastic yet muddled embrace of the principle, reflecting his skewed priorities. This quote highlights the tension between genuine hospitality and excessive thrift, serving as a critique of Harpagon's avarice. It also nods to Socratic philosophy, grounding the play’s themes in broader intellectual traditions.