The wise men reclined, talked philosophy, and consumed a sickening amount of watered wine.

NEWYORKER: A Fork of One��s Own

Rather than sitting in a leather chair talking with someone reclined on a matching leather couch, I sit in the back of the classroom.

FORBES: Lemon Squares and the Acceptance Thereof

It was painted in Argenteuil, where Monet lived between 1871 and 1878, depicts the artist's wife, Camille, reclined and reading amongst blooming flowers in an open meadow.

ECONOMIST: Art.view: The incredible shrinking saleroom | The

She let the cross drop and reclined in her seat.

NEWYORKER: The Repatriates

Her father reclined across the back seat, pain medication making his sentences syrupy, his bare toes at the end of a heavy full-leg cast resting on the door handle.

NEWYORKER: Soldier��s Joy

He may be a fan of low-budget carrier Spirit Airlines, which made headlines this spring when it announced that it was installing "pre-reclined" seats on some of its planes as a space- and cost-saving measure.

CNN: Air rage: Is reclining your seat a right?

His success has taken him all over the world, and now to this couch where he was reclined, in a black T-Shirt and Dickies, stroking his Paul Bunyan beard and pretending to watch sports highlights.

FORBES: Behind the Scenes at World Domination II, Part One