--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Just for a handful of silver he left us…" description: "\"Just for a handful of silver he left us, Just for a riband to stick in his coat.\" — Robert Browning" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b83/robert-browning-734_bereft_just-for-a-handful-of-silver-he-left-us_937195.png" --- # Just for a handful of silver he left us, Just for a riband… ![“Just for a handful of silver he left us, Just for a riband to stick in his coat.” quote by Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b83/robert-browning-734_bereft_just-for-a-handful-of-silver-he-left-us_937195.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b83/robert-browning-734_bereft_just-for-a-handful-of-silver-he-left-us_937195.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b83/robert-browning-734_bereft_just-for-a-handful-of-silver-he-left-us_937195.png) > “Just for a handful of silver he left us, Just for a riband to stick in his coat.” [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Greed for wealth leads to moral decay, reducing a person to superficial symbols of status. **In simple terms:** Silver and ribbons symbolize shallow ambition. Key Takeaway Prioritize integrity over material gain. Themes greed materialism morality vanity legacy Mood cautionary critical reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal finance - career advancement - political ambition Key Concepts ethical decay symbolic critique social commentary Questions to Reflect On - What values truly define a lasting legacy? - How does society reward superficial success? A Different Perspective The quote may romanticize poverty. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bereft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bereft/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Silver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silver/) ## Related quotes > [No one needs to be left out, just because you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kendyl-smith/no-one-needs-to-be-left-out-just-because-you/) [Kendyl Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kendyl-smith/) > [They say either get right or get left, how about I just go forward and never look back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/behdad-sami/they-say-either-get-right-or-get-left-how-about-i-just-go-forward-and/) [Behdad Sami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/behdad-sami/) > [When there is nothing left, just relax.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone/when-there-is-nothing-left-just-relax/) [Simone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone/) > [I traded everything for you, I left him just because you .. because I love you .. But you left me too Now, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trixia-mae/i-traded-everything-for-you-i-left-him-just-because-you-because-i/) Trixia Mae > [I never left you, I just thought you would be happier without me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-mark/i-never-left-you-i-just-thought-you-would-be-happier-without-me/) [Terry Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-mark/) > [That awkward moment when you're left alone with someone you just met.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-awkward-moment-when-you-re-left-alone-with-someone-you-just-met/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm pretty sure after you left, you just found someone who's my replacement. =(](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alyssa/i-m-pretty-sure-after-you-left-you-just-found-someone-who-s-my/) [ALYSSA](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alyssa/) > [Dont cry because they left. Just smile because they gave you a chance to move on and find someone better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zhat/dont-cry-because-they-left-just-smile-because-they-gave-you-a-chance/) [Zhat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zhat/) > [I have not spoken in three years: not since I left boot camp. It has been three years of a senseless war, and though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-abani/i-have-not-spoken-in-three-years-not-since-i-left-boot-camp-it-has/) [Chris Abani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-abani/) > [Politics bereft of religion is absolute dirt, ever to be shunned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/politics-bereft-of-religion-is-absolute-dirt-ever-to-be-shunned/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Madam, you have bereft me of all words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/madam-you-have-bereft-me-of-all-words/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A woman moved is like a fountain troubled, Muddy, ill-seeming, thick, bereft of beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-woman-moved-is-like-a-fountain-troubled-muddy-ill-seeming-thick/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“You'll be bereft without me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-lynn/you-ll-be-bereft-without-me/) [J. Lynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-lynn/) > [Men feel more bereft without a woman than women will feel bereft without a man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/men-feel-more-bereft-without-a-woman-than-women-will-feel-bereft/) [Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/) > [These eyes, tho' clear To outward view of blemish or of spot, Bereft of light, their seeing have forgot, Nor to their idle orbs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/these-eyes-tho-clear-to-outward-view-of-blemish-or-of-spot-bereft-of/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) ## More by Robert Browning > [I would have rummaged, ransacked at the word; Those old odd corners of an empty heart; For remnants of dim love the long disused,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/i-would-have-rummaged-ransacked-at-the-word-those-old-odd-corners-of/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [“One who never turned his back but marched breast forward, never doubted clouds would break, never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would triumph.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/one-who-never-turned-his-back-but-marched-breast-forward-never/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [All service ranks the same with God,- With God, whose puppets, best and worst, Are we: there is no last nor first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/all-service-ranks-the-same-with-god-with-god-whose-puppets-best-and/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [“Have you found your life distasteful? My life did and does smack sweet. Was your youth of pleasure wasteful? Mine I save and hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/have-you-found-your-life-distasteful-my-life-did-and-does-smack-sweet/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [“I was ever a fighter, so---one fight more, The best and the last! I would hate that death bandaged my eyes and forbore, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/i-was-ever-a-fighter-so-one-fight-more-the-best-and-the-last-i-would/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [But how carve way i' the life that lies before, If bent on groaning ever for the past?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/but-how-carve-way-i-the-life-that-lies-before-if-bent-on-groaning/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [If you get simple beauty and naught else, you get about the best thing God invents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/if-you-get-simple-beauty-and-naught-else-you-get-about-the-best-thing/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [How good is man's life, the mere living! How fit to employ all the heart and the soul and the senses forever in joy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/how-good-is-man-s-life-the-mere-living-how-fit-to-employ-all-the/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [Oh, to be in England Now that April's there, And whoever wakes in England Sees, some morning, unaware.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/oh-to-be-in-england-now-that-april-s-there-and-whoever-wakes-in/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [The ultimate, angels' law, Indulging every instinct of the soul There where law, life, joy, impulse are one thing!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/the-ultimate-angels-law-indulging-every-instinct-of-the-soul-there/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made. Our times are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/grow-old-along-with-me-the-best-is-yet-to-be-the-last-of-life-for/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over, lest you should think he never could recapture the first fine careless rapture!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/that-s-the-wise-thrush-he-sings-each-song-twice-over-lest-you-should/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [Look not down but up!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/look-not-down-but-up/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [What a thing friendship is - World without end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/what-a-thing-friendship-is-world-without-end/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [Silence 'tis awe decrees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/silence-tis-awe-decrees/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) [Explore all 386 Robert Browning quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) ## More Bereft quotes > [These eyes, tho' clear To outward view of blemish or of spot, Bereft of light, their seeing have forgot, Nor to their idle orbs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/these-eyes-tho-clear-to-outward-view-of-blemish-or-of-spot-bereft-of/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [Men feel more bereft without a woman than women will feel bereft without a man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/men-feel-more-bereft-without-a-woman-than-women-will-feel-bereft/) [Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/) > [“You'll be bereft without me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-lynn/you-ll-be-bereft-without-me/) [J. Lynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-lynn/) > [A woman moved is like a fountain troubled, Muddy, ill-seeming, thick, bereft of beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-woman-moved-is-like-a-fountain-troubled-muddy-ill-seeming-thick/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Madam, you have bereft me of all words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/madam-you-have-bereft-me-of-all-words/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Politics bereft of religion is absolute dirt, ever to be shunned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/politics-bereft-of-religion-is-absolute-dirt-ever-to-be-shunned/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I have not spoken in three years: not since I left boot camp. It has been three years of a senseless war, and though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-abani/i-have-not-spoken-in-three-years-not-since-i-left-boot-camp-it-has/) [Chris Abani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-abani/) > [So many people seem to spend their lives trying to appear normal, predictable and consistent to themselves and those that surround them. They just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-j-carroll/so-many-people-seem-to-spend-their-lives-trying-to-appear-normal/) [Peter J. Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-j-carroll/) > [By cutting ourselves off from the rest of creation, we are left bereft of awe and wonder and therefore of reverence and gratitude. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-fox/by-cutting-ourselves-off-from-the-rest-of-creation-we-are-left-bereft/) [Matthew Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-fox/) > [ \[...\] elite social engineers appear to be aiming at a "hetero-homo" world, i.e. where individuals are bisexual, promiscuous and bereft of family. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-makow/elite-social-engineers-appear-to-be-aiming-at-a-hetero-homo-world-i-e/) [Henry Makow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-makow/) > [O loving woman, man's fulfillment, sweet, Completing him not otherwise complete! How void and useless the sad remnant left Were he of her, his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-coles/o-loving-woman-man-s-fulfillment-sweet-completing-him-not-otherwise/) [Abraham Coles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-coles/) > [How strange it is, Anna. Yesterday, I have filed in my mind as a good day, notwithstanding it was filled with mortal illness and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/how-strange-it-is-anna-yesterday-i-have-filed-in-my-mind-as-a-good/) [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) > [The fictitious worlds created for kids are nearly bereft of female presence. It's sending a very clear message from the beginning that women and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geena-davis/the-fictitious-worlds-created-for-kids-are-nearly-bereft-of-female/) [Geena Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geena-davis/) > [I suppose that anyone who does any kind of creative work some time in their life - especially as you grow into middle age!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-day-lewis/i-suppose-that-anyone-who-does-any-kind-of-creative-work-some-time-in/) [Daniel Day-Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-day-lewis/) > [There's nothing new about the government protecting corporations and calling it the freeing of the world or bringing democracy to bereft nations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/there-s-nothing-new-about-the-government-protecting-corporations-and-2/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) [Browse all 39 Bereft quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bereft/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Just for a handful of silver he left us, Just for a riband to stick in his coat.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Browning" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/just-for-a-handful-of-silver-he-left-us-just-for-a-riband-to-stick-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bereft" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/just-for-a-handful-of-silver-he-left-us-just-for-a-riband-to-stick-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b83/robert-browning-734_bereft_just-for-a-handful-of-silver-he-left-us_937195.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b83/robert-browning-734_bereft_just-for-a-handful-of-silver-he-left-us_937195.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b83/robert-browning-734_bereft_just-for-a-handful-of-silver-he-left-us_937195.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Just for a handful of silver he left us, Just for a riband to stick in his coat.” — Robert Browning", "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": "Robert Browning", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Just for a handful of silver...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/just-for-a-handful-of-silver-he-left-us-just-for-a-riband-to-stick-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/just-for-a-handful-of-silver-he-left-us-just-for-a-riband-to-stick-in/#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 } } ] } ```