--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Time was when genius was more precious…" description: "\"Time was when genius was more precious than gold, but now to have nothing is monstrous barbarism.\" — Ovid" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/ovid-276_barbarism_time-was-when-genius-was-more-precious-t_3170427.png" --- # Time was when genius was more precious than gold, but now… ![“Time was when genius was more precious than gold, but now to have nothing is monstrous barbarism.” quote by Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/ovid-276_barbarism_time-was-when-genius-was-more-precious-t_3170427.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/ovid-276_barbarism_time-was-when-genius-was-more-precious-t_3170427.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/ovid-276_barbarism_time-was-when-genius-was-more-precious-t_3170427.png) > “Time was when genius was more precious than gold, but now to have nothing is monstrous barbarism.” [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Society once valued intellect over wealth, now neglecting basic needs is cruel. **In simple terms:** Intellect once prized, now basic needs ignored. Key Takeaway Prioritize human dignity over material gain. Themes values humanity wealth Mood concerned critical Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - policy making - humanitarian aid - education reform - community support Key Concepts philosophy ethics social critique Questions to Reflect On - How do we balance intellectual pursuits with basic welfare? - What policies ensure dignity for all? A Different Perspective Neglecting basic needs can destabilize societies. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Barbarism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/barbarism/) [Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) [Genius Precious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius-precious-5768159/) [Gold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gold/) [Gold Monstrous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gold-monstrous-5768158/) [Monstrous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monstrous/) [Precious Gold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/precious-gold-928879/) [Time Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-genius-4587994/) [Wealth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wealth/) ## Related quotes > [Then if he's sore with me, let him dump my ass. That will just give me more time to be a genius.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-heti/then-if-he-s-sore-with-me-let-him-dump-my-ass-that-will-just-give-me/) [Sheila Heti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-heti/) > [It takes a lot of time to be a genius, you have to sit around so much doing nothing, really doing nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/it-takes-a-lot-of-time-to-be-a-genius-you-have-to-sit-around-so-much/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [“Nothing worthwhile comes easy... a worthy pursuit, for the right reasons, is more precious than gold!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-vonada/nothing-worthwhile-comes-easy-a-worthy-pursuit-for-the-right-reasons/) [Chris Vonada](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-vonada/) > [Life is precious as gold so enjoy it while you can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiki-nolove-scurry/life-is-precious-as-gold-so-enjoy-it-while-you-can/) [kiki Nolove Scurry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiki-nolove-scurry/) > [“Ô, Sunlight! The most precious gold to be found on Earth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-payne/sunlight-the-most-precious-gold-to-be-found-on-earth/) [Roman Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-payne/) > [It is unheard-of, uncivilized barbarism that any woman should still be forced to bear such monstrous torture. It should be remedied. It should be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isadora-duncan/it-is-unheard-of-uncivilized-barbarism-that-any-woman-should-still-be/) [Isadora Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isadora-duncan/) > [Barbarism is the absence of standards to which appeal can be made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/barbarism-is-the-absence-of-standards-to-which-appeal-can-be-made/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [You think that a wall as solid as the earth separates civilization from barbarism. I tell you the division is a thread, a sheet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-buchan/you-think-that-a-wall-as-solid-as-the-earth-separates-civilization/) [John Buchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-buchan/) > [Human history, like all great movements, was cyclical, and returned to the point of beginning. The idea of indefinite progress in a right line…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/human-history-like-all-great-movements-was-cyclical-and-returned-to/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [Educational exchange can turn nations into people, contributing as no other form of communication can to the humanizing of international relations. Man's capacity for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-william-fulbright/educational-exchange-can-turn-nations-into-people-contributing-as-no/) [J. William Fulbright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-william-fulbright/) > [ \[Much\] as war attracts me and fascinates my mind with its tremendous situations, I feel more deeply every year . . . what vile… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/much-as-war-attracts-me-and-fascinates-my-mind-with-its-tremendous/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Christianity has carried civilization along with it, whithersoever it has gone; and, as if to show that the latter does not depend on physical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-william-hare/christianity-has-carried-civilization-along-with-it-whithersoever-it/) [Augustus William Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-william-hare/) > [“Odd, don't you think? I have seen war, and invasions and riots. I have heard of massacres and brutalities beyond imagining, and I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-pears/odd-don-t-you-think-i-have-seen-war-and-invasions-and-riots-i-have/) [Iain Pears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-pears/) > [Liberty is the condition of progress. Without Liberty, there remains only barbarism. Without Liberty, there can be no civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/liberty-is-the-condition-of-progress-without-liberty-there-remains/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [ That country \[Carthage\] was rapidly sinking into the state of barbarism from whence it had been raised by the Phoenician colonies and Roman laws;… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/that-country-carthage-was-rapidly-sinking-into-the-state-of-barbarism/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) ## More by Ovid > [Every woman thinks herself attractive; even the plainest is satisfied with the charms she deems that she possesses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/every-woman-thinks-herself-attractive-even-the-plainest-is-satisfied/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Suppressed grief suffocates, it rages within the breast, and is forced to multiply its strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/suppressed-grief-suffocates-it-rages-within-the-breast-and-is-forced/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Honesty, by evil fortune tried, Finds in adversity the seed of praise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/honesty-by-evil-fortune-tried-finds-in-adversity-the-seed-of-praise/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [It is some alleviation to ills we cannot cure to speak of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/it-is-some-alleviation-to-ills-we-cannot-cure-to-speak-of-them/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [ A mind conscious of right laughs at the falsehoods of rumour. \[Lat., Conscia mens recti famae mendacia risit.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/a-mind-conscious-of-right-laughs-at-the-falsehoods-of-rumour-lat/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Time is generally the best doctor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/time-is-generally-the-best-doctor/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [It is convenient that there be gods, and, as it is convenient, let us believe there are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/it-is-convenient-that-there-be-gods-and-as-it-is-convenient-let-us/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [I hate a woman who offers herself because she ought to do so, and cold and dry thinks of her sewing when making love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/i-hate-a-woman-who-offers-herself-because-she-ought-to-do-so-and-cold/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [The sea's vast depths lie open to the fish; Wherever the breezes blow the bird may fly; So to the brave man every land's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/the-sea-s-vast-depths-lie-open-to-the-fish-wherever-the-breezes-blow/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Rare is the virtue that's not ruled by Fortune, That stands unshaken even when Fortune flees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/rare-is-the-virtue-that-s-not-ruled-by-fortune-that-stands-unshaken/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Thus all things altered. Nothing dies. And here and there the unbodied spirit flies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/thus-all-things-altered-nothing-dies-and-here-and-there-the-unbodied/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [How little is the promise of the child fulfilled in the man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/how-little-is-the-promise-of-the-child-fulfilled-in-the-man/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Judgement of beauty can err, what with the wine and the dark.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/judgement-of-beauty-can-err-what-with-the-wine-and-the-dark/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Leave war to others; 'tis Protesilaus' part of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/leave-war-to-others-tis-protesilaus-part-of-love/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Remove but the temptations of leisure, and the bow of Cupid will lose its effect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/remove-but-the-temptations-of-leisure-and-the-bow-of-cupid-will-lose/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) [Explore all 771 Ovid quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) ## More Barbarism quotes > [ That country \[Carthage\] was rapidly sinking into the state of barbarism from whence it had been raised by the Phoenician colonies and Roman laws;… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/that-country-carthage-was-rapidly-sinking-into-the-state-of-barbarism/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [Liberty is the condition of progress. Without Liberty, there remains only barbarism. Without Liberty, there can be no civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/liberty-is-the-condition-of-progress-without-liberty-there-remains/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [“Odd, don't you think? I have seen war, and invasions and riots. I have heard of massacres and brutalities beyond imagining, and I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-pears/odd-don-t-you-think-i-have-seen-war-and-invasions-and-riots-i-have/) [Iain Pears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-pears/) > [Christianity has carried civilization along with it, whithersoever it has gone; and, as if to show that the latter does not depend on physical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-william-hare/christianity-has-carried-civilization-along-with-it-whithersoever-it/) [Augustus William Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-william-hare/) > [ \[Much\] as war attracts me and fascinates my mind with its tremendous situations, I feel more deeply every year . . . what vile… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/much-as-war-attracts-me-and-fascinates-my-mind-with-its-tremendous/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Educational exchange can turn nations into people, contributing as no other form of communication can to the humanizing of international relations. Man's capacity for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-william-fulbright/educational-exchange-can-turn-nations-into-people-contributing-as-no/) [J. William Fulbright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-william-fulbright/) > [Human history, like all great movements, was cyclical, and returned to the point of beginning. The idea of indefinite progress in a right line…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/human-history-like-all-great-movements-was-cyclical-and-returned-to/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [You think that a wall as solid as the earth separates civilization from barbarism. I tell you the division is a thread, a sheet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-buchan/you-think-that-a-wall-as-solid-as-the-earth-separates-civilization/) [John Buchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-buchan/) > [Barbarism is the absence of standards to which appeal can be made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/barbarism-is-the-absence-of-standards-to-which-appeal-can-be-made/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [“The language of sword is less powerful than the language of word, but most of the people understand the language of sword with greater…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kedar-joshi/the-language-of-sword-is-less-powerful-than-the-language-of-word-but/) [Kedar Joshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kedar-joshi/) > [There is so much that must be done in a civilized barbarism like war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelia-earhart/there-is-so-much-that-must-be-done-in-a-civilized-barbarism-like-war/) [Amelia Earhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelia-earhart/) > [There is a barbarism in the American soul, and we must protect some of it by law. To root it out is to endanger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-pierce/there-is-a-barbarism-in-the-american-soul-and-we-must-protect-some-of/) [Charlie Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-pierce/) > [In discussing Barbarism and Christianity I have actually been discussing the Fall of Rome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/in-discussing-barbarism-and-christianity-i-have-actually-been/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [What we now want is closer contact and better understanding between individuals and communities all over the earth, and the elimination of egoism and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikola-tesla/what-we-now-want-is-closer-contact-and-better-understanding-between/) [Nikola Tesla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikola-tesla/) > [“Magic begins in superstition, and ends in science. ... At every step the history of civilization teaches us how slight and superficial a structure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/magic-begins-in-superstition-and-ends-in-science-at-every-step-the/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) [Browse all 238 Barbarism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/barbarism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Time was when genius was more precious than gold, but now to have nothing is monstrous barbarism.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ovid" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/time-was-when-genius-was-more-precious-than-gold-but-now-to-have/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Barbarism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/time-was-when-genius-was-more-precious-than-gold-but-now-to-have/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/ovid-276_barbarism_time-was-when-genius-was-more-precious-t_3170427.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/ovid-276_barbarism_time-was-when-genius-was-more-precious-t_3170427.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/ovid-276_barbarism_time-was-when-genius-was-more-precious-t_3170427.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Time was when genius was more precious than gold, but now to have nothing is monstrous barbarism.” — Ovid", "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": "Ovid", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Time was when genius was more...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/time-was-when-genius-was-more-precious-than-gold-but-now-to-have/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/time-was-when-genius-was-more-precious-than-gold-but-now-to-have/#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 } } ] } ```