Everyone says they want to live a long, rich life, but this isn't always a good thing. Take the case of Brooke Astor, the last of New York society's great doyennes, who died of pneumonia at the ripe old age of 105 yesterday, at her weekend estate, after having given away over $195 million in philanthropy dollars. She certainly lived a rich life, but perhaps she might have benefited from an earlier exit—her final year was plagued by a civil case highlighting her mistreatment. She was, reportedly, neglected by her son and forced to sleep on a urine-soaked couch while subsisting on mushy peas and oatmeal; she went from grande dame to Edie Beale in a matter of months.

Although Ms. Astor couldn't really understand the embarrassing drama of her final act, it seems such a shame that every obituary of the socialite mentions her poor retirement conditions, because the woman was actually crazy—in a good way—long before she was abandoned to live in a crackhouse.

After the jump, a selection of some of our favorite bits from Lady Astor, a veritable New York superhero and worthy of setting the flags at half-mast—her story makes today's chattering class look like rank amateurs.

She always looked fancy
"On inspection tours in crumbling neighborhoods, she arrived in Chanel dresses, pearl necklaces, and diamonds. She said, 'If I go up to Harlem or down to Sixth Street and I'm not dressed up or I'm not wearing my jewelry, then the people feel I'm talking down to them.'—WaPo

"At night—almost every night, even into her 90s—she could be found surrounded by crystal and caviar, done up in her designer dresses and magnificent jewels, seated to the right of the host. (She was always seated to the right of the host.)"—NYT

"She was forced to wear high, tightly laced boots to keep her ankles slim, because she was being raised to be the wife of a very rich man."—Boston Globe

She married for the money—three times. Then she gave it all away
"In fact, she said she had a great deal of fun giving money away. With a wink and a sly smile, she liked to quote the leading character in Thornton Wilder's play The Matchmaker, saying, 'Money is like manure; it's not worth a thing unless it's spread around.'"—NYT

"She grew up as a perpetual poor relation—'the little sister of the rich.' Her mother and grandmother and a covey of aunts worked together to groom her so that she could marry money. And marry it she did—three millionaires in a row, the first one a few weeks after her 17th birthday."—Boston Globe

"She married Vincent Astor, the eldest son of John Jacob Astor IV, who died in the sinking of the Titanic. 'Vincent was a very suspicious man,' she recalled. 'The fact that he had total confidence in me to run the foundation made me want to vindicate him, show him—wherever he is—that I could do a good job.'"—Chicago Tribune

She stayed sprightly well into her golden years
"She kept fit well into her advanced years, by swimming 1,000 strokes each weekend day, and nearly every day in summer, even in the chilly waters that surrounded her house in Northeast Harbor, Maine. Every year she liked to march behind the fire engine in Northeast Harbor's Memorial Day parade, waving a little American flag."—NYT

"Even into her 90s, she loved to go out, especially to places where there would be dancing. 'When that music starts,' she said, 'it enters my blood like a fever.'—NYT

She was a living landmark. Officially
"'After Vincent died, I recreated myself,' she said, referring to her decades of philanthropy at the Vincent Astor Foundation. 'Now I feel I've become a public monument,' she said during one of many meetings and interviews since the 1980s. She was, in fact, named a living landmark by the New York Landmarks Conservancy, which said in 1996 that 'a list of the city monuments is incomplete without her name alongside.'"—NYT