For tyme ylost may nought recovered be.
Geoffrey ChaucerRead
If gold rusts, what then can iron do?
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that if even the most valuable things lose their worth, lesser things have no hope for preservation or value.
Geoffrey Chaucer's quote reflects on the idea that if something precious, like gold, can deteriorate, then we should question the fate of things deemed less valuable, such as iron. It serves as a metaphor for the transience of value, virtue, and strength in both people and society, prompting reflections on the nature of deterioration and worth in all aspects of life.
Themes
ValueTransienceWorthPhilosophyDeteriorationLife
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the changing values in society, one might use this quote to highlight the fragility of perceived worth.
More from Geoffrey Chaucer
All quotes βFor in their hearts doth Nature stir them so Then people long on pilgrimage to go And palmers to be seeking foreign strands To distant shrines renowned in sundry lands.
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Thus with hir fader for a certeyn space_x000D_ _x000D_ Dwelleth this flour of wyfly pacience,_x000D_ _x000D_ That neither by hir wordes ne hir face_x000D_ _x000D_ Biforn the folk, ne eek in her absence,_x000D_ _x000D_ Ne shewed she that hir was doon offence.
Geoffrey ChaucerRead
Ther nis no werkman, whatsoevere he be, That may bothe werke wel and hastily.
Geoffrey ChaucerRead
For oute of olde feldys, as men sey,_x000D_ _x000D_ Comyth al this newe corn from yer to yere;_x000D_ _x000D_ And out of olde bokis, in good fey,_x000D_ _x000D_ Comyth al this newe science that men lere.
Geoffrey ChaucerRead
But Christ's lore and his apostles twelve,_x000D_ He taught and first he followed it himself.
Geoffrey ChaucerRead
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