Pointed Gold

Famous quotes containing the words pointed and/or gold:

“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)

“That is coupled to foul thraldom.
But if he had assayed it,
Then all perquer he should it wit;
And should think freedom more to prize
Than all the gold in world that is.”
—John Barbour (1316?–1395)