As a result of his father's habit of living far beyond his means, the family was forced to sell all its possessions, down to the spoon, when Charles was 12 years old.
We drink too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.
The clerk then felt the lowliness of his position; he longed for epaulettes, crosses, titles. All that would please her—he gathered that from her spendthrift habits.