--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But tell me: how did gold get to be the…" description: "\"But tell me: how did gold get to be the highest value? Because it is uncommon and useless and gleaming and gentle in its brilliance; it always gives it..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5da/friedrich-nietzsche-15_brilliance_but-tell-me-how-did-gold-get-to-be-the-h_2394672.jpg" --- # But tell me: how did gold get to be the highest value?… ![“But tell me: how did gold get to be the highest value? Because it is uncommon and useless and gleaming and gentle in its brilliance; it always gives itself. Only as an image of the highest virtue did gold get to be the highest value. The giver's glance gleams like gold. A golden brilliance…” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5da/friedrich-nietzsche-15_brilliance_but-tell-me-how-did-gold-get-to-be-the-h_2394672.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5da/friedrich-nietzsche-15_brilliance_but-tell-me-how-did-gold-get-to-be-the-h_2394672.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5da/friedrich-nietzsche-15_brilliance_but-tell-me-how-did-gold-get-to-be-the-h_2394672.jpg) > “But tell me: how did gold get to be the highest value? Because it is uncommon and useless and gleaming and gentle in its brilliance; it always gives itself. Only as an image of the highest virtue did gold get to be the highest value. The giver's glance gleams like gold. A golden brilliance concludes peace between the moon and the sun. Uncommon is the highest virtue and useless, it is gleaming and gentle in its brilliance: a gift-giving virtue is the highest virtue.” [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Gold’s value stems from its rarity, lack of utility, and radiant beauty, symbolizing a virtue that is both selfless and dazzling, representing the highest moral ideal. **In simple terms:** Gold’s worth is due to rarity, uselessness, and shine, symbolizing supreme virtue. Key Takeaway Recognize that true value often lies in rarity and selfless giving. Themes value virtue rarity beauty symbolism Mood contemplative analytical inspirational Type philosophical poetic reflective When to use this quote - investment decisions - ethical discussions - art appreciation - personal values Key Concepts philosophy ethics metaphor Questions to Reflect On - What does “useless” mean in moral terms? - Can beauty be separated from virtue? A Different Perspective Rarity alone does not guarantee moral worth; context matters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brilliance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brilliance/) [Gentle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gentle/) [Gift giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gift-giving/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Gold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gold/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moon/) [Sun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sun/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) ## Related quotes > [If you have hitherto believed that life was one of the highest value and now see yourselves disappointed, do you at once have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/if-you-have-hitherto-believed-that-life-was-one-of-the-highest-value/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [It is to be steadily inculcated, that virtue is the highest proof of understanding, and the only solid basis of greatness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/it-is-to-be-steadily-inculcated-that-virtue-is-the-highest-proof-of/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Virtue is the highest reward. Virtue truly goes before all things. Liberty, safety, life, property, parents, country, and children are protected and preserved. Virtue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plautus/virtue-is-the-highest-reward-virtue-truly-goes-before-all-things/) [Plautus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plautus/) > [You have to choose the best, every day, without compromise...guided by your own virtue and highest ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-have-to-choose-the-best-every-day-without-compromise-guided-by/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Man and man's earth are unexhausted and undiscovered. Wake and listen! Verily, the earth shall yet be a source of recovery. Remain faithful to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/man-and-man-s-earth-are-unexhausted-and-undiscovered-wake-and-listen/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Nothing of great value in this life comes easily. The things of highest value sometimes come hard. The gold that has the greatest value…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/nothing-of-great-value-in-this-life-comes-easily-the-things-of/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [National honor is national property of the highest value.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-monroe/national-honor-is-national-property-of-the-highest-value/) [James Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-monroe/) > [National honor is the national property of the highest value.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-monroe/national-honor-is-the-national-property-of-the-highest-value/) [James Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-monroe/) > [I focus on things that are the highest value and do them perfectly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-parker/i-focus-on-things-that-are-the-highest-value-and-do-them-perfectly/) [Sean Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-parker/) > [Intimacy, says the phenomenologist Gaston Bachelard, is the highest value. I resist this statement at first. What about artistic achievement, or moral courage, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/intimacy-says-the-phenomenologist-gaston-bachelard-is-the-highest/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [“Most people equate value with money, and money does have value. But the highest value-the most important value-is the value you create with your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-andrews-the-noticer-returns/most-people-equate-value-with-money-and-money-does-have-value-but-the/) Andy Andrews-The Noticer Returns > [To me, the simplest things can have the highest value.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brunello-cucinelli/to-me-the-simplest-things-can-have-the-highest-value/) [Brunello Cucinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brunello-cucinelli/) > [My highest value is not that the trains are on time. I want to be free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-turkle/my-highest-value-is-not-that-the-trains-are-on-time-i-want-to-be-free/) [Sherry Turkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherry-turkle/) > [Let a man (as most men do) rate themselves as the highest Value they can; yet their true Value is no more than it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/let-a-man-as-most-men-do-rate-themselves-as-the-highest-value-they/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [The highest endeavor of the mind, and the highest virtue, it to understand things by intuition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/the-highest-endeavor-of-the-mind-and-the-highest-virtue-it-to/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) ## More by Friedrich Nietzsche > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Every select man strives instinctively for a citadel and a privacy, where he is FREE from the crowd, the many, the majority-- where he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/every-select-man-strives-instinctively-for-a-citadel-and-a-privacy/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“It breaks my heart. Better than your words, your eye tells me all your peril. You are not yet free, you still search for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-breaks-my-heart-better-than-your-words-your-eye-tells-me-all-your/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“79. A soul which knows that it is loved, but does not itself love, betrays its sediment: its dregs come up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/79-a-soul-which-knows-that-it-is-loved-but-does-not-itself-love/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [We deceive ourselves when giving respect to the person for whom we have surrendered ourselves, when we respectively expect them to be as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/we-deceive-ourselves-when-giving-respect-to-the-person-for-whom-we/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“The great periods of our life occur when we gain the courage to rechristen what is bad about us as what is best.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-great-periods-of-our-life-occur-when-we-gain-the-courage-to/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“What is life? Life - that is: continually shedding something that wants to die. Life - that is: being cruel and inexorable against everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/what-is-life-life-that-is-continually-shedding-something-that-wants/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [It is thus only this personal feeling of misery that we get rid of by acts of pity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-is-thus-only-this-personal-feeling-of-misery-that-we-get-rid-of-by/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Writers whose thoughts are expressed with clarity and precision are assumed by readers to be superficial. Where the meaning is obscured, then readers give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/writers-whose-thoughts-are-expressed-with-clarity-and-precision-are/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“he does not wear a twitching, mobile, human face, but rather a mask, as it were, with its features in dignified equilibrium; he does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/he-does-not-wear-a-twitching-mobile-human-face-but-rather-a-mask-as/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Chastity is a virtue with some, but with many it is almost a vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/chastity-is-a-virtue-with-some-but-with-many-it-is-almost-a-vice/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The earth is like the breasts of a woman: useful as well as pleasing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-earth-is-like-the-breasts-of-a-woman-useful-as-well-as-pleasing/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Of all that is written I love only what a man has written in his own blood.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/of-all-that-is-written-i-love-only-what-a-man-has-written-in-his-own/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [No shepherd and one herd! Everybody wants the same, everybody is the same: whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/no-shepherd-and-one-herd-everybody-wants-the-same-everybody-is-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Pain makes hens and poets cackle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/pain-makes-hens-and-poets-cackle/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) [Explore all 3,486 Friedrich Nietzsche quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) ## More Brilliance quotes > [Asanas bring perfection in body, beauty in form, grace, strength, compactness, and the hardness and brilliance of a diamond.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patanjali/asanas-bring-perfection-in-body-beauty-in-form-grace-strength/) [Patanjali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patanjali/) > [Evil may mar the divine image and cloud its brilliance, but it cannot destroy it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/evil-may-mar-the-divine-image-and-cloud-its-brilliance-but-it-cannot/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [Knowledge is merely brilliance in organization of ideas and not wisdom. The truly wise person goes beyond knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/knowledge-is-merely-brilliance-in-organization-of-ideas-and-not/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Sensual pleasures have the fleeting brilliance of a comet; a happy marriage has the tranquillity of a lovely sunset.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-landers/sensual-pleasures-have-the-fleeting-brilliance-of-a-comet-a-happy/) [Ann Landers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-landers/) > [What is writing, no matter how lavish the pieces, if it says nothing of the truth, cares little for the heart, and is merely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/what-is-writing-no-matter-how-lavish-the-pieces-if-it-says-nothing-of/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) > [I love the idea of a movie hero in a thriller who is able to get ahead by just his brilliance, and not with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-strong/i-love-the-idea-of-a-movie-hero-in-a-thriller-who-is-able-to-get/) [Danny Strong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-strong/) > [Most brilliance arises from ordinary people working together in extraordinary ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-von-oech/most-brilliance-arises-from-ordinary-people-working-together-in/) [Roger von Oech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-von-oech/) > [A man doesn't need brilliance or genius, all he needs is energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-m-greenfield/a-man-doesn-t-need-brilliance-or-genius-all-he-needs-is-energy/) Albert M. Greenfield > [We aren't suggesting that mental instability or unhappiness makes one a better poet, or a poet at all; and contrary to the romantic notion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorianne-laux/we-aren-t-suggesting-that-mental-instability-or-unhappiness-makes-one/) [Dorianne Laux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorianne-laux/) > [Enlightenment is like witnessing the brilliant sun for the first time in the morning. It is like seeing the beautiful flowers that grow in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/enlightenment-is-like-witnessing-the-brilliant-sun-for-the-first-time/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [Too much brilliance has its disadvantages, and misplaced wit may raise a laugh, but often beheads a topic of profound interest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margot-asquith/too-much-brilliance-has-its-disadvantages-and-misplaced-wit-may-raise/) [Margot Asquith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margot-asquith/) > [It is not brilliance or facility that is necessary, but the determination to bear and even enjoy the dull process of wading into one's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-o-nan/it-is-not-brilliance-or-facility-that-is-necessary-but-the/) [Stewart O'Nan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-o-nan/) > [Our humanity is trapped by moral adolescents. We have too many men of science, too few men of God. The world has achieved brilliance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-n-bradley/our-humanity-is-trapped-by-moral-adolescents-we-have-too-many-men-of/) [Omar N. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-n-bradley/) > [Here is just emptiness. There is no getting my ego out of the way, and all that stuff. There is just the seeing, shining…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-harding/here-is-just-emptiness-there-is-no-getting-my-ego-out-of-the-way-and/) [Douglas Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-harding/) > [“You can't stop the future. All you can do is pick a side”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-sakey/you-can-t-stop-the-future-all-you-can-do-is-pick-a-side/) Markus Sakey [Browse all 411 Brilliance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brilliance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But tell me: how did gold get to be the highest value? 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