--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But even gold is not everything: and only…" description: "\"But even gold is not everything: and only a fanatic, and a rather foolish fanatic, would say that this style of fiction summed up and exhausted all the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/521/george-saintsbury-23162_exhausted_but-even-gold-is-not-everything-and-only_596076.png" --- # But even gold is not everything: and only a fanatic, and a… ![“But even gold is not everything: and only a fanatic, and a rather foolish fanatic, would say that this style of fiction summed up and exhausted all the good that fiction could give and do.” quote by George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/521/george-saintsbury-23162_exhausted_but-even-gold-is-not-everything-and-only_596076.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/521/george-saintsbury-23162_exhausted_but-even-gold-is-not-everything-and-only_596076.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/521/george-saintsbury-23162_exhausted_but-even-gold-is-not-everything-and-only_596076.png) > “But even gold is not everything: and only a fanatic, and a rather foolish fanatic, would say that this style of fiction summed up and exhausted all the good that fiction could give and do.” [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote warns against believing a single work represents all the value of fiction; true literary merit is broader and varied. **In simple terms:** One work cannot capture all fiction’s worth. Key Takeaway Seek diverse reading experiences. Themes literature criticism diversity Mood reflective analytical Type critical educational When to use this quote - Choosing a book club - teaching literature - personal reading growth Key Concepts Aesthetic value subjectivity canon formation Questions to Reflect On - What other genres could broaden your view? - How do you assess a work’s worth beyond hype? A Different Perspective A single opinion can overlook other valuable perspectives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Gold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gold/) [Style](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/style/) ## Related quotes > [During the last 17 years... I have been working at the restoration of a once exhausted hillside. Its scars are now healed over, though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/during-the-last-17-years-i-have-been-working-at-the-restoration-of-a/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [I want to explain how exhausted I am. Even in my dreams. How I wake up tired. 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Motionless and fathomless, It stands alone and never changes; It pervades…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/there-is-a-thing-inherent-and-natural-which-existed-before-heaven-and/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [When I walk off the field exhausted, drenched in sweat, knowing I pushed myself to the physical, mental, and emotional limits, there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-lohman/when-i-walk-off-the-field-exhausted-drenched-in-sweat-knowing-i/) [Joanna Lohman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-lohman/) > [In the last few years, the very idea of telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is dredged up only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-musto/in-the-last-few-years-the-very-idea-of-telling-the-truth-the-whole/) [Michael Musto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-musto/) > [ Jowett, in his day, did probably more than any other single man to let some fresh air into the exhausted atmosphere of the \[Oxford\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-jowett/jowett-in-his-day-did-probably-more-than-any-other-single-man-to-let/) [Benjamin Jowett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-jowett/) > [I have seen war. 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Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/) > [What we are only now beginning to fully realize is that in seeking material pleasure too constantly, the capacity for enjoyment or fulfillment decreases…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-campbell/what-we-are-only-now-beginning-to-fully-realize-is-that-in-seeking/) [Alex Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-campbell/) > [I'm always exhausted after a show, even if it's just half an hour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tove-lo/i-m-always-exhausted-after-a-show-even-if-it-s-just-half-an-hour/) [Tove Lo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tove-lo/) > [I remember Terry being exhausted from his latest Super Bowl win and all the things that go with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-fouts/i-remember-terry-being-exhausted-from-his-latest-super-bowl-win-and/) [Dan Fouts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-fouts/) > [If you don't have to drag yourself off the field exhausted after 90 minutes, you can't claim to have done your best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-nichols/if-you-don-t-have-to-drag-yourself-off-the-field-exhausted-after-90/) [Bill Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-nichols/) > [Rage is exciting, but leaves me confused and exhausted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/rage-is-exciting-but-leaves-me-confused-and-exhausted/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Special-interest magazines are dangerous places for writers to start out in because the writing quickly falls into a routine and people are likely to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irwin-shaw/special-interest-magazines-are-dangerous-places-for-writers-to-start/) [Irwin Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irwin-shaw/) ## More by George Saintsbury > [To pass to the deluge, and beyond it, and to come to close quarters with our proper division, the origin of Romance itself is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/to-pass-to-the-deluge-and-beyond-it-and-to-come-to-close-quarters/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [One of the best known, and one of the least intelligible, facts of literary history is the lateness, in Western European Literature at any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/one-of-the-best-known-and-one-of-the-least-intelligible-facts-of/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [The transition state of manners and language cannot be too often insisted upon: for this affected the process at both ends, giving the artist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/the-transition-state-of-manners-and-language-cannot-be-too-often/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [The Italian prose tale had begun to exercise that influence as early as Chaucer's time: but circumstances and atmosphere were as yet unfavourable for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/the-italian-prose-tale-had-begun-to-exercise-that-influence-as-early/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [But dinner is dinner, a meal at which not so much to eat - it becomes difficult to eat much at it as you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/but-dinner-is-dinner-a-meal-at-which-not-so-much-to-eat-it-becomes/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [The hardest thing to attain... is the appreciation of difference without insisting on superiority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/the-hardest-thing-to-attain-is-the-appreciation-of-difference-without/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [I do not think anything serious should be done after dinner, as nothing should be before breakfast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/i-do-not-think-anything-serious-should-be-done-after-dinner-as/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [But at the time when he wrote, Englishmen, with the rarest exceptions, wrote only in French or Latin; and when they began to write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/but-at-the-time-when-he-wrote-englishmen-with-the-rarest-exceptions/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [Oratory is, after all, the prose literature of the savage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/oratory-is-after-all-the-prose-literature-of-the-savage/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [“Nothing is more curious than the almost savage hostility that humor excites in those who lack it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/nothing-is-more-curious-than-the-almost-savage-hostility-that-humor/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [Miss Austen had shown the infinite possibilities of ordinary and present things for the novelist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/miss-austen-had-shown-the-infinite-possibilities-of-ordinary-and/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [The Odyssey is, indeed, one of the greatest of all stories, it is the original romance of the West; but the Iliad, though a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/the-odyssey-is-indeed-one-of-the-greatest-of-all-stories-it-is-the/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [Nothing is more curious than the almost savage hostility that Humour excites in those who lack it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/nothing-is-more-curious-than-the-almost-savage-hostility-that-humour/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [The Book of History is the Bible of Irony.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/the-book-of-history-is-the-bible-of-irony/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [When people cannot write good literature it is perhaps natural that they should lay down rules how good literature should be written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/when-people-cannot-write-good-literature-it-is-perhaps-natural-that/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) [Explore all 26 George Saintsbury quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) ## More Exhausted quotes > [During the last 17 years... I have been working at the restoration of a once exhausted hillside. Its scars are now healed over, though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/during-the-last-17-years-i-have-been-working-at-the-restoration-of-a/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Rage is exciting, but leaves me confused and exhausted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/rage-is-exciting-but-leaves-me-confused-and-exhausted/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [If you don't have to drag yourself off the field exhausted after 90 minutes, you can't claim to have done your best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-nichols/if-you-don-t-have-to-drag-yourself-off-the-field-exhausted-after-90/) [Bill Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-nichols/) > [I remember Terry being exhausted from his latest Super Bowl win and all the things that go with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-fouts/i-remember-terry-being-exhausted-from-his-latest-super-bowl-win-and/) [Dan Fouts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-fouts/) > [I'm always exhausted after a show, even if it's just half an hour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tove-lo/i-m-always-exhausted-after-a-show-even-if-it-s-just-half-an-hour/) [Tove Lo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tove-lo/) > [What we are only now beginning to fully realize is that in seeking material pleasure too constantly, the capacity for enjoyment or fulfillment decreases…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-campbell/what-we-are-only-now-beginning-to-fully-realize-is-that-in-seeking/) [Alex Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-campbell/) > [I have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded. I have seen men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt/i-have-seen-war-i-have-seen-war-on-land-and-sea-i-have-seen-blood/) [Franklin D. Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/) > [ Jowett, in his day, did probably more than any other single man to let some fresh air into the exhausted atmosphere of the \[Oxford\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-jowett/jowett-in-his-day-did-probably-more-than-any-other-single-man-to-let/) [Benjamin Jowett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-jowett/) > [In the last few years, the very idea of telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is dredged up only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-musto/in-the-last-few-years-the-very-idea-of-telling-the-truth-the-whole/) [Michael Musto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-musto/) > [When I walk off the field exhausted, drenched in sweat, knowing I pushed myself to the physical, mental, and emotional limits, there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-lohman/when-i-walk-off-the-field-exhausted-drenched-in-sweat-knowing-i/) [Joanna Lohman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-lohman/) > [There is a thing inherent and natural which existed before heaven and earth. Motionless and fathomless, It stands alone and never changes; It pervades…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/there-is-a-thing-inherent-and-natural-which-existed-before-heaven-and/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [I like to sleep so much that I wake up exhausted from sleeping so hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-richie/i-like-to-sleep-so-much-that-i-wake-up-exhausted-from-sleeping-so-hard/) [Nicole Richie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-richie/) > [...the framers of our Constitution never exhausted so much labor, wisdom and forbearance in its formation if it was intended to be broken up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-e-lee/the-framers-of-our-constitution-never-exhausted-so-much-labor-wisdom/) [Robert E. Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-e-lee/) > [I want to explain how exhausted I am. Even in my dreams. How I wake up tired. 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