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Just for a handful of silver he left us, Just for a riband to stick in his coat.
Robert Browning
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote reflects on the idea of betrayal for trivial rewards.

In this quote, Robert Browning critiques the act of forsaking something of great value, such as loyalty or integrity, for insignificant rewards like money or superficial recognition. It emphasizes the foolishness of valuing material gains over meaningful relationships or principles, highlighting a moral lesson about the importance of prioritizing what truly matters in life.

Themes

BetrayalIntegrityLoyaltyMaterialismValues

In practice

Example use cases

During a discussion on ethics in business, one might use this quote to illustrate the dangers of prioritizing profit over principles.

More from Robert Browning

If two lives join, there is oft a scar. They are one and one, with a shadowy third; One near one is too far.
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Tis Man's to explore up and down, inch by inch, with the taper his reason.
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I think, am sure, a brother's love exceeds_x000D_ _x000D_ All the world's loves in its unworldliness.
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I dare not so honor my mere wishes and prayers as to put them for a moment beside your noble acts; but this know, I would rather submit to the worst of deaths, so far as pain goes, than have a single dog or cat tortured on the pretence of sparing me a twinge or two.
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How well I know what I mean to do When the long dark Autumn evenings come, And where, my soul, is thy pleasant hue? With the music of all thy voices, dumb In life’s November too! I shall be found by the fire, suppose, O’er a great wise book as beseemeth age, While the shutters flap as the cross-wind blows, And I turn the page, and I turn the page, Not verse now, only prose!
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How good is life, the mere living!
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