“A grain of gold will gild a great surface, but not so much as a grain of wisdom.”

— Henry David Thoreau , book Life Without Principle

Life Without Principle (1863)
Context: I did not know that mankind were suffering for want of gold. I have seen a little of it. I know that it is very malleable, but not so malleable as wit. A grain of gold will gild a great surface, but not so much as a grain of wisdom.

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Henry David Thoreau 385

1817-1862 American poet, essayist, naturalist, and abolitio… 1817–1862

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