"The Delmonico’s dinner, however, ended in disaster. Instead of graciously bathing in the torrents of tribute, Spencer told his admirers that they had got him seriously wrong. He did not approve of the culture of American capitalism, and, while he admired its material achievements, he was concerned that, for Americans, work had become a pathological obsession. Americans were endangering their mental and physical health through overwork, and many were turning gray before their time—ten years earlier than the British, Spencer believed. America needed 'a revised ideal of life,' he said, and it was time to 'preach the gospel of relaxation.' He went on, 'Life is not for learning, nor is life for working, but learning and working are for life.' Having administered that slap to the face of national virtue, Spencer steamed off back to England."
In The New Yorker, Steven Shapin looks back on the life and work of Herbert Spencer.
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