--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We know what things cost but have no idea…" description: "\"We know what things cost but have no idea what they are worth.\" — Tony Judt" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70e/tony-judt-1730_cost_we-know-what-things-cost-but-have-no-ide_2770710.png" --- # We know what things cost but have no idea what they are… ![“We know what things cost but have no idea what they are worth.” quote by Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70e/tony-judt-1730_cost_we-know-what-things-cost-but-have-no-ide_2770710.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70e/tony-judt-1730_cost_we-know-what-things-cost-but-have-no-ide_2770710.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70e/tony-judt-1730_cost_we-know-what-things-cost-but-have-no-ide_2770710.png) > “We know what things cost but have no idea what they are worth.” [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Cost is measurable; value is subjective. **In simple terms:** Money vs. worth. Key Takeaway Assess true value beyond price. Themes economics value perception philosophy Mood analytical thoughtful Type philosophical practical When to use this quote - budgeting - investment decisions - art appraisal Key Concepts utility theory subjective valuation cultural norms Questions to Reflect On - How do you determine worth? - When does price mislead you? A Different Perspective Value can be emotional, not monetary. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Worth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worth/) ## Related quotes > [In economics, one of the most important concepts is 'opportunity cost' - the idea that once you spend your money on something, you can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-turnbull/in-economics-one-of-the-most-important-concepts-is-opportunity-cost/) [Malcolm Turnbull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-turnbull/) > [You have to make people understand that things cost something. Otherwise it seems like they have no value. I can't just be giving away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/novella-carpenter/you-have-to-make-people-understand-that-things-cost-something/) [Novella Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/novella-carpenter/) > [“Even free things, things that cost no money, still cost time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/even-free-things-things-that-cost-no-money-still-cost-time/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [Persons are fine things, but they cost so much! for thee I must pay me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/persons-are-fine-things-but-they-cost-so-much-for-thee-i-must-pay-me/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I wanted things. Whatever it cost and whatever it took, I would do it. And that's it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-ellroy/i-wanted-things-whatever-it-cost-and-whatever-it-took-i-would-do-it/) [James Ellroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-ellroy/) > [By the way, food and rent aren't the only things around here that cost money. You sleep on the couch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-lee-curtis/by-the-way-food-and-rent-aren-t-the-only-things-around-here-that-cost/) [Jamie Lee Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-lee-curtis/) > [I'm not stingy. I'm just afraid of being an easy mark. People wouldn't have money long if they didn't ask how much things cost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-duke/i-m-not-stingy-i-m-just-afraid-of-being-an-easy-mark-people-wouldn-t/) [Doris Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-duke/) > [My first job was in sixth grade, sweeping the clay tennis courts at the yacht club near my house, which I was not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chloe-sevigny/my-first-job-was-in-sixth-grade-sweeping-the-clay-tennis-courts-at/) [Chloe Sevigny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chloe-sevigny/) > [“some things cost more than you realize”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radiohead/some-things-cost-more-than-you-realize/) [Radiohead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radiohead/) > [“Most things cost something you can give up, but they aren’t worth anything – not really, not in the end. 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Schwarzman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-a-schwarzman/) > [things that have cost more than they're worth leave a bitter taste. A taste of salt and sweat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-winslow-johnson/things-that-have-cost-more-than-they-re-worth-leave-a-bitter-taste-a/) [Josephine Winslow Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-winslow-johnson/) > [The old watch the young with anguish, pain, fear. Above all what each has learned is what things cost, what has to be paid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/the-old-watch-the-young-with-anguish-pain-fear-above-all-what-each/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) ## More by Tony Judt > [I don't believe in an afterlife. I don't believe in a single or multiple godhead. I respect people who do, but I don't believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/i-don-t-believe-in-an-afterlife-i-don-t-believe-in-a-single-or/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“Markets do not automatically generate trust, cooperation or collective action for the common good. Quite the contrary: it is in the nature of economic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/markets-do-not-automatically-generate-trust-cooperation-or-collective/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“ Lieux de memoire . . . 'exist because there are no longer any milieux de memoire , settings in which memory is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/lieux-de-memoire-exist-because-there-are-no-longer-any-milieux-de/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“Keynes died in 1946, exhausted by his wartime efforts. But he had long since demonstrated that neither capitalism nor liberalism would survive very long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/keynes-died-in-1946-exhausted-by-his-wartime-efforts-but-he-had-long/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [The Second World War had a precipitating effect in that it discredited the empires, as well as bankrupting them. Not only could you no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/the-second-world-war-had-a-precipitating-effect-in-that-it/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“That the state might exceed its remit and damage the market by distorting its operations was not taken very seriously in these years.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/that-the-state-might-exceed-its-remit-and-damage-the-market-by/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“Whatever their other differences, French Gaullists, Christian Democrats and Socialists shared a common faith in the activist state, economic planning and large-scale public investment.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/whatever-their-other-differences-french-gaullists-christian-democrats/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [I think if I'm controversial it's not because I set out to be. 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For thirty years we have made a virtue out of the pursuit of material…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/something-is-profoundly-wrong-with-the-way-we-live-today-for-thirty/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“Today, neither Left nor Right can find their footing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/today-neither-left-nor-right-can-find-their-footing/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [We have responsibilities for others, not just across space but across time. We have responsibilities to people who came before us. They left us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/we-have-responsibilities-for-others-not-just-across-space-but-across/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“What did trust, cooperation, progressive taxation and the interventionist state bequeath to western societies in the decades following 1945? The short answer is, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/what-did-trust-cooperation-progressive-taxation-and-the/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [Healthcare reform is a paradigmatic case. It is self-evidently necessary and inevitable and has been on the agenda for 35 years, and the political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/healthcare-reform-is-a-paradigmatic-case-it-is-self-evidently/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“Inequality is corrosive. It rots societies from within.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/inequality-is-corrosive-it-rots-societies-from-within/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) [Explore all 211 Tony Judt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) ## More Cost quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [I would borrow money all day long, if the cost of borrowing is less than the expected return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-schneider/i-would-borrow-money-all-day-long-if-the-cost-of-borrowing-is-less/) [Brad Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-schneider/) > [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [What a thrill. You know you've entered new territory when you realise that your outfit cost more than your film.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-yu/what-a-thrill-you-know-you-ve-entered-new-territory-when-you-realise/) Jessica Yu > [ \[Photography is \] likewise even French impressionists. So the Sculls bought pop. It was politics, and they moved with it. And I think that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-winogrand/photography-is-likewise-even-french-impressionists-so-the-sculls/) [Garry Winogrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-winogrand/) > [What has drug addiction done for me? It's cost me my career, my fortune and basically my sex life when I found out I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robbin-crosby/what-has-drug-addiction-done-for-me-it-s-cost-me-my-career-my-fortune/) Robbin Crosby > [I agreed a long time ago, I would not live at any cost. If I am moved or forced away from what I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-agreed-a-long-time-ago-i-would-not-live-at-any-cost-if-i-am-moved/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I believe that government is too large, costs too much, spends too much, and has too much regulatory power in our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-walberg/i-believe-that-government-is-too-large-costs-too-much-spends-too-much/) [Tim Walberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-walberg/) > [One reason for the tremendous increase in health-care costs in the U.S. is managerial neglect of the "hotel services" by the people who dominate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/one-reason-for-the-tremendous-increase-in-health-care-costs-in-the-u/) [Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/) > [They brought on someone who cost more than our stadium.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brendan-rodgers/they-brought-on-someone-who-cost-more-than-our-stadium/) [Brendan Rodgers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brendan-rodgers/) > [When the government pays, health care's lack of affordability becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. In health care, as in other things, government is the high-cost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-kling/when-the-government-pays-health-care-s-lack-of-affordability-becomes/) [Arnold Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-kling/) > [“In your goals to go the extra mile, prepare to pay an extra cost. Excellence is to be exceptional, surpassing, more competent and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/in-your-goals-to-go-the-extra-mile-prepare-to-pay-an-extra-cost/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [First impressions are often the truest, as we find (not infrequently) to our cost, when we have been wheedled out of them by plausible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/first-impressions-are-often-the-truest-as-we-find-not-infrequently-to/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [The term 'cost shifting,' as I use it, refers to those items in a university's budget that used to be reimbursed by the federal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-term-cost-shifting-as-i-use-it-refers-to-those-items-in-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Beauty's a doubtful good, a glass, a flower, Lost, faded, broken, dead within an hour; And beauty, blemish'd once, for ever's lost, In spite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/beauty-s-a-doubtful-good-a-glass-a-flower-lost-faded-broken-dead/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) Browse all 3,987 Cost quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We know what things cost but have no idea what they are worth.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tony Judt" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/we-know-what-things-cost-but-have-no-idea-what-they-are-worth/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cost" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/we-know-what-things-cost-but-have-no-idea-what-they-are-worth/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70e/tony-judt-1730_cost_we-know-what-things-cost-but-have-no-ide_2770710.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70e/tony-judt-1730_cost_we-know-what-things-cost-but-have-no-ide_2770710.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70e/tony-judt-1730_cost_we-know-what-things-cost-but-have-no-ide_2770710.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We know what things cost but have no idea what they are worth.” — Tony Judt", "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": "Tony Judt", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We know what things cost but...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/we-know-what-things-cost-but-have-no-idea-what-they-are-worth/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/we-know-what-things-cost-but-have-no-idea-what-they-are-worth/#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 } } ] } ```