I think the implication is that you get a balance of the first two, within your budget.
Set a budget, look at your options. Realize that perfection is not possible and get the best option to fit your needs within your budget. If you do research and ask around, you might be able to maximize your value for what you pay.
Okay, but $3,000 for a couch sounds like a damn-reasonable budget, and apparently isn't? So can you tell me what my couch budget should be for a good couch that won't, in fact, break in three years?
$3000 in 1995 dollars is approximately $6,000 today, so should I start looking at $6,000 couches? Except the problem here is when my parents bought a nice couch in 1995, it certainly wasn't $3,000 (closer to $1,200), and it lasted 10 years.
$3000 is absolutely a perfectly fine budget, and you can get a well-made couch within that.
Some couches for that price will be cheaply made garbage. Some will be very well made. You have to look around, do research, look at customer feedback, see what reputation brands have, try a few, etc.
I got a motion sofa for $2k 5 years ago, it's still going well. For a regular sofa you'd be fine with less.
Just because poorly made and expensive furniture exists does not mean that all furniture is so.
Set a budget, look at your options. Realize that perfection is not possible and get the best option to fit your needs within your budget. If you do research and ask around, you might be able to maximize your value for what you pay.