Accursed thirst for gold! what dost thou not compel mortals to
do?
[Lat., Quid non mortalia pectora cogis,
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Accursed thirst for gold! what dost thou not compel mortals to
do?
[Lat., Quid non mortalia pectora cogis,
Auri sacra fames?]

There is thy gold; worse poison to men's souls, Doing more murther in this loathsome world, Than these poor compounds read more

There is thy gold; worse poison to men's souls, Doing more murther in this loathsome world, Than these poor compounds that thou mayst not sell:.

Truly now is the golden age; the highest honour comes by means of
gold; by gold love is procured.
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Truly now is the golden age; the highest honour comes by means of
gold; by gold love is procured.
[Lat., Aurea nunc vere sunt saecula; plurimus auto
Venit honos; auro concilatur amor.]

And yet he hadde "a thombe of gold" pardee.

And yet he hadde "a thombe of gold" pardee.

Truth comes to us from the past, then, like gold washed down from the mountains.

Truth comes to us from the past, then, like gold washed down from the mountains.

The lust of gold succeeds the rage of conquest;
The lust of gold, unfeeling and remorseless!
The read more

The lust of gold succeeds the rage of conquest;
The lust of gold, unfeeling and remorseless!
The last corruption of degenerate man.

Commerce has set the mark of selfishness,
The signet of its all-enslaving power
Upon a shining ore, read more

Commerce has set the mark of selfishness,
The signet of its all-enslaving power
Upon a shining ore, and called it gold;
Before whose image bow the vulgar great,
The vainly rich, the miserable proud,
The mob of peasants, nobles, priests, and kings,
And with blind feelings reverence the power
That grinds them to the dust of misery.
But in the temple of their hireling hearts
Gold is a living god, and rules in scorn
All earthly things but virtue.

An ass is but an ass, though laden with gold.

An ass is but an ass, though laden with gold.

Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by washing away from it all that is read more

Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by washing away from it all that is not gold.