Geoffrey Chaucer Gold Quotations

But al thyng which shineth as the gold Nis nat gold, as that I have herd it told

I wol yow telle, as was me taught also, The foure spirites and the bodies sevene, By ordre, as ofte I herde my lord hem nevene. The firste spirit quiksilver called is, The second orpiment, the thridde, ywis, Sal armoniak, and the firthe brimstoon. The bodies sevene eek, lo! hem heer anoon: Sol gold is, and Luna silver we threpe, Mars yron, Mercurie quiksilver we clepe, Saturnus leed, and Jupiter is tin, And Venus coper, by my fader kin!

Every honest miller has a golden thumb.

. . . if gold rust, what then will iron do?/ For if a priest be foul in whom we trust/ No wonder that a common man should rust. . . .

But al be that he was a philosophre, Yet hadde he but litel gold in cofre.

But all thing which that shineth as the gold Ne is no gold, as I have herd it told.

If gold rusts, what then can iron do?

Purity in body and heart May please some--as for me, I make no boast. For, as you know, no master of a household Has all of his utensils made of gold; Some are wood, and yet they are of use.

If gold ruste, what shall iren do?