--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Don't neglect the gold in your own back…" description: "\"Don't neglect the gold in your own back yard.\" — Ben Okri" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/044/ben-okri-3640_gold_don-t-neglect-the-gold-in-your-own-back_3044639.jpg" --- # Don't neglect the gold in your own back yard. ![“Don't neglect the gold in your own back yard.” quote by Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/044/ben-okri-3640_gold_don-t-neglect-the-gold-in-your-own-back_3044639.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/044/ben-okri-3640_gold_don-t-neglect-the-gold-in-your-own-back_3044639.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/044/ben-okri-3640_gold_don-t-neglect-the-gold-in-your-own-back_3044639.jpg) > “Don't neglect the gold in your own back yard.” [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People often overlook valuable resources close to home. **In simple terms:** Ignore nearby wealth. Key Takeaway Look locally for value. Themes self‑discovery resourcefulness Mood insightful motivational Type personal reflective When to use this quote - career advancement - financial planning - community projects Key Concepts local opportunities personal development Questions to Reflect On - What hidden assets do you have? - How can you uncover them? A Different Perspective Self‑awareness can be blind. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Gold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gold/) [Gold Yard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gold-yard-5034652/) [Neglect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neglect/) [Neglect Gold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neglect-gold-5034651/) [Yard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yard/) [Yards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yards/) ## Related quotes > [If you've got a plot the size of a car or a tiny yard in Italy, you're going to be growing tomatoes and basil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-mayes/if-you-ve-got-a-plot-the-size-of-a-car-or-a-tiny-yard-in-italy-you-re/) [Frances Mayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-mayes/) > [Mile by mile, it's a trial; yard by yard, it's hard; but inch by inch, it's a cinch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/mile-by-mile-it-s-a-trial-yard-by-yard-it-s-hard-but-inch-by-inch-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Central Park is the grandiose symbol of the front yard each child in New York hasn't got.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/central-park-is-the-grandiose-symbol-of-the-front-yard-each-child-in/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [Teddy has lost that yard of pace he never had.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-cascarino/teddy-has-lost-that-yard-of-pace-he-never-had/) [Tony Cascarino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-cascarino/) > [I hit a one-yard draw in there](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiger-woods/i-hit-a-one-yard-draw-in-there/) [Tiger Woods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiger-woods/) > [The sky was electric blue above the trees but the yard felt dark. Stephanie went to the edge of the lawn and sat her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/the-sky-was-electric-blue-above-the-trees-but-the-yard-felt-dark/) [Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) > [I like stand-up. But I'd also like a family and house and a yard. I want to work with a lot of people, have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demetri-martin/i-like-stand-up-but-i-d-also-like-a-family-and-house-and-a-yard-i/) [Demetri Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demetri-martin/) > [“A maid’s yard, house, wardrobe, fridge, etc. sometimes also serve as her master’s dustbin or dumpsite.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-maid-s-yard-house-wardrobe-fridge-etc-sometimes-also-serve-as-her/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [I always thought a yard was three feet, then I started mowing the lawn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lettie-cowman/i-always-thought-a-yard-was-three-feet-then-i-started-mowing-the-lawn/) [Lettie Cowman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lettie-cowman/) > [If the grass is greener in the other fellow's yard- let him worry about cutting it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-allen/if-the-grass-is-greener-in-the-other-fellow-s-yard-let-him-worry/) [Fred Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-allen/) > [When I was a kid, we always had big gardens, acres of stuff we grew out in the yard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-houser/when-i-was-a-kid-we-always-had-big-gardens-acres-of-stuff-we-grew-out/) [Randy Houser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-houser/) > [I'm married. I have three children. I have a mortgage to pay. The plumbing breaks and the yard needs trimming. However, what my wife…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-eldredge/i-m-married-i-have-three-children-i-have-a-mortgage-to-pay-the/) [John Eldredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-eldredge/) > [By the time I was twelve, I had started my own theater company and was doing plays in the backyard and the front yard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-preston/by-the-time-i-was-twelve-i-had-started-my-own-theater-company-and-was/) [Carrie Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-preston/) > [For the most part, I hang out in my back yard with my dog, but there's no paparazzi trying to check that out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-wentz/for-the-most-part-i-hang-out-in-my-back-yard-with-my-dog-but-there-s/) [Pete Wentz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-wentz/) > [You might be a redneck if you have flowers planted in a bathroom appliance in your front yard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-foxworthy/you-might-be-a-redneck-if-you-have-flowers-planted-in-a-bathroom/) [Jeff Foxworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-foxworthy/) ## More by Ben Okri > [We never think that our mothers will die. It was like suddenly an abyss opened at my feet - I was standing on nothing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/we-never-think-that-our-mothers-will-die-it-was-like-suddenly-an/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [“In a fractured age, when cynicism is god, here is a possible heresy: we live by stories, we also live in them. One way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/in-a-fractured-age-when-cynicism-is-god-here-is-a-possible-heresy-we/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [The best writing is not about the writer, the best writing is absolutely not about the writer, it's about us, it's about the reader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/the-best-writing-is-not-about-the-writer-the-best-writing-is/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [Maybe there are only three kinds of stories: those we live, those we tell, and those that help our souls fly upwards to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/maybe-there-are-only-three-kinds-of-stories-those-we-live-those-we/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [The earliest storytellers were magi, seers, bards, griots, shamans. They were, it would seem, old as time, and as terrifying to gaze upon as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/the-earliest-storytellers-were-magi-seers-bards-griots-shamans-they/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [An inner darkness is darker than an outer darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/an-inner-darkness-is-darker-than-an-outer-darkness/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [The strange thing about Africa is how past, present and future come together in a kind of rough jazz, if you like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/the-strange-thing-about-africa-is-how-past-present-and-future-come/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [Our time here is magic! It's the only space you have to realize whatever it is that is beautiful, whatever is true, whatever is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/our-time-here-is-magic-it-s-the-only-space-you-have-to-realize/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [Fire is one of my temperaments. It is behind all my work... Fire is a chemical presence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/fire-is-one-of-my-temperaments-it-is-behind-all-my-work-fire-is-a/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [I lived rough, by my wits, was homeless, lived on the streets, lived on friends' floors, was happy, was miserable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/i-lived-rough-by-my-wits-was-homeless-lived-on-the-streets-lived-on/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [If we could be pure dancers in spirit we would never be afraid to love, and we would love with strength and wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/if-we-could-be-pure-dancers-in-spirit-we-would-never-be-afraid-to/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [Without stories we would go mad. Life would lose its moorings or lose its orientations. even in silence we are living our stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/without-stories-we-would-go-mad-life-would-lose-its-moorings-or-lose/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [Literature doesn't have a country. Shakespeare is an African writer. His Falstaff, for example, is very African in his appetite for life, his largeness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/literature-doesn-t-have-a-country-shakespeare-is-an-african-writer/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [“So long as a canvas is empty its potential is infinite… The empty canvas can become a gateway into the landscape of nightmares or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/so-long-as-a-canvas-is-empty-its-potential-is-infinite-the-empty/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [I went to London because, for me, it was the home of literature. I went there because of Dickens and Shakespeare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/i-went-to-london-because-for-me-it-was-the-home-of-literature-i-went/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) [Explore all 124 Ben Okri quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) ## More Gold quotes > [These joys were so trifling as to be as imperceptible as grains of gold among the sand, and in moments of depression she saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/these-joys-were-so-trifling-as-to-be-as-imperceptible-as-grains-of/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Most paper money initially existed as a substitute for gold. That's what gave it value. But right now what gives a currency value is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schiff/most-paper-money-initially-existed-as-a-substitute-for-gold-that-s/) [Peter Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schiff/) > [With every product, the delta between the brand and the reality determines its power over the minds of consumers, and with Trump, that delta…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-wilson/with-every-product-the-delta-between-the-brand-and-the-reality/) [Rick Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-wilson/) > [Set the bird's wings with gold and it will never again soar in thesky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/set-the-bird-s-wings-with-gold-and-it-will-never-again-soar-in-thesky/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [A great smile is a wonderful asset, but a good heart is pure gold.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dolly-parton/a-great-smile-is-a-wonderful-asset-but-a-good-heart-is-pure-gold/) [Dolly Parton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dolly-parton/) > [I with borrow'd silver shine, What you see is none of mine. First I show you but a quarter, Like the bow that guards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/i-with-borrow-d-silver-shine-what-you-see-is-none-of-mine-first-i/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [Ring out false pride in place and blood, The civic slander and the spite; Ring in the love of truth and right, Ring in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-the-great/ring-out-false-pride-in-place-and-blood-the-civic-slander-and-the/) [Alfred the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-the-great/) > [Just as the setting sun turned the clouds to liquid gold.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/just-as-the-setting-sun-turned-the-clouds-to-liquid-gold/) [Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/) > [No matter what. Wherever your mind wanders, it seems to turn up at the same Field of Dreams. It's the vision you wake up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-c-collins/no-matter-what-wherever-your-mind-wanders-it-seems-to-turn-up-at-the/) [James C. Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-c-collins/) > [The spectacle of a great, solvent government paying a fictitious price for gold it did not want and did not need and doing it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garet-garrett/the-spectacle-of-a-great-solvent-government-paying-a-fictitious-price/) [Garet Garrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garet-garrett/) > [Nothing good comes on a platter of gold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/nothing-good-comes-on-a-platter-of-gold/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [All the people in Korea are cheering me like I'm a gold medalist or something, so I have a responsibility to my country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/psy/all-the-people-in-korea-are-cheering-me-like-i-m-a-gold-medalist-or/) [PSY](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/psy/) > [All metallics are neutrals. So it is absolutely fine to mix gold and silver; you just want it to look like it has purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-london/all-metallics-are-neutrals-so-it-is-absolutely-fine-to-mix-gold-and/) [Stacy London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-london/) > [He gives only the worthless gold who gives from a sense of duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/he-gives-only-the-worthless-gold-who-gives-from-a-sense-of-duty/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) [Browse all 3,806 Gold quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gold/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Don't neglect the gold in your own back yard.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ben Okri" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/don-t-neglect-the-gold-in-your-own-back-yard/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Gold" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/don-t-neglect-the-gold-in-your-own-back-yard/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/044/ben-okri-3640_gold_don-t-neglect-the-gold-in-your-own-back_3044639.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/044/ben-okri-3640_gold_don-t-neglect-the-gold-in-your-own-back_3044639.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/044/ben-okri-3640_gold_don-t-neglect-the-gold-in-your-own-back_3044639.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Don't neglect the gold in your own back yard.” — Ben Okri", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ben Okri", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Don't neglect the gold in your...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/don-t-neglect-the-gold-in-your-own-back-yard/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/don-t-neglect-the-gold-in-your-own-back-yard/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```