--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If gold ruste, what shall iren do?" description: "\"If gold ruste, what shall iren do?\" — Geoffrey Chaucer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e4/geoffrey-chaucer-1677_gold_if-gold-ruste-what-shall-iren-do-2390997_2390997.jpg" --- # If gold ruste, what shall iren do? ![“If gold ruste, what shall iren do?” quote by Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e4/geoffrey-chaucer-1677_gold_if-gold-ruste-what-shall-iren-do-2390997_2390997.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e4/geoffrey-chaucer-1677_gold_if-gold-ruste-what-shall-iren-do-2390997_2390997.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e4/geoffrey-chaucer-1677_gold_if-gold-ruste-what-shall-iren-do-2390997_2390997.jpg) > “If gold ruste, what shall iren do?” [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A rhetorical question about the future of gold and iron, implying uncertainty in material value. **In simple terms:** Questioning future value of metals. Key Takeaway Consider lasting value beyond material wealth. Themes economics materialism uncertainty future value Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - Investment strategies - resource management - ethical consumption - historical analysis - financial planning Key Concepts Medieval literature economic metaphor philosophical inquiry Questions to Reflect On - What truly holds lasting value? - How can societies balance material and moral wealth? A Different Perspective Material focus may overlook intangible worth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Gold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gold/) [Gold Ruste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gold-ruste-5955977/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) ## Related quotes > [But all thing which that shineth as the gold Ne is no gold, as I have herd it told.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/but-all-thing-which-that-shineth-as-the-gold-ne-is-no-gold-as-i-have/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [But al be that he was a philosophre, Yet hadde he but litel gold in cofre.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/but-al-be-that-he-was-a-philosophre-yet-hadde-he-but-litel-gold-in/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) ## More by Geoffrey Chaucer > [Drunkenness is the very sepulcher Of man's wit and his discretion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/drunkenness-is-the-very-sepulcher-of-man-s-wit-and-his-discretion/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [Whoso will pray, he must fast and be clean, And fat his soul, and make his body lean.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/whoso-will-pray-he-must-fast-and-be-clean-and-fat-his-soul-and-make/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [“The man who has no wife is no cuckold.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/the-man-who-has-no-wife-is-no-cuckold/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [One eare it heard, at the other out it went.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/one-eare-it-heard-at-the-other-out-it-went/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [The handsome gifts that fate and nature lend us Most often are the very ones that end us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/the-handsome-gifts-that-fate-and-nature-lend-us-most-often-are-the/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [Patience is a conquering virtue. The learned say that, if it not desert you, It vanquishes what force can never reach; Why answer back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/patience-is-a-conquering-virtue-the-learned-say-that-if-it-not-desert/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [“This Nicholas anon leet fle a fart As greet as it had been a thonder-dent, That with the strook he was almoost yblent; And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/this-nicholas-anon-leet-fle-a-fart-as-greet-as-it-had-been-a-thonder/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [A whetstone is no carving instrument, And yet it maketh sharp the carving tool; And if you see my efforts wrongly spent, Eschew that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/a-whetstone-is-no-carving-instrument-and-yet-it-maketh-sharp-the/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [“In general, my liege lady,’ he began, ‘Women desire to have dominion Over their husbands, and their lovers too; They want to have mastery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/in-general-my-liege-lady-he-began-women-desire-to-have-dominion-over/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [“Till we be roten, kan we not be rypen?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/till-we-be-roten-kan-we-not-be-rypen/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [Venus me yaf my lust, my like rousnesse, And Mars yaf me my sturdy hardinesse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/venus-me-yaf-my-lust-my-like-rousnesse-and-mars-yaf-me-my-sturdy/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [“For sondry scoles maken sotile clerkis; Womman of manye scoles half a clerk is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/for-sondry-scoles-maken-sotile-clerkis-womman-of-manye-scoles-half-a/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [For God's love, take things patiently, have sense, Think! We are prisoners and shall always be. Fortune has given us this adversity, Some wicked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/for-god-s-love-take-things-patiently-have-sense-think-we-are/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/whan-that-aprill-with-his-shoures-soote-the-droghte-of-march-hath/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [Forbid us something, and that thing we desire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/forbid-us-something-and-that-thing-we-desire/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) [Explore all 217 Geoffrey Chaucer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) ## 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": "If gold ruste, what shall iren do?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Geoffrey Chaucer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/if-gold-ruste-what-shall-iren-do/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Gold" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/if-gold-ruste-what-shall-iren-do/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e4/geoffrey-chaucer-1677_gold_if-gold-ruste-what-shall-iren-do-2390997_2390997.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e4/geoffrey-chaucer-1677_gold_if-gold-ruste-what-shall-iren-do-2390997_2390997.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e4/geoffrey-chaucer-1677_gold_if-gold-ruste-what-shall-iren-do-2390997_2390997.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If gold ruste, what shall iren do?” — Geoffrey Chaucer", "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": "Geoffrey Chaucer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If gold ruste, what shall iren...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/if-gold-ruste-what-shall-iren-do/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/if-gold-ruste-what-shall-iren-do/#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 } } ] } ```