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Gild Just One Lily

smashingmagazine.com

38 points by serialx 3 months ago · 7 comments

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wood_spirit 3 months ago

Does the recent makeover of the Oval Office count as just one?

mirawelner 3 months ago

I like metaphors. I respect a good “run with a metaphor” post. But I feel like if you have to explain the metaphor this much during the post it’s not worth it

  • onraglanroad 3 months ago

    True. This particular lily was less gilded than battered and deep fried.

  • stevedonovan 3 months ago

    "This post could have been a tweet", and so on.

    It's a lovely metaphor for the soulful business of doing something really well, even if there is no 'market' for that kind of quality

IAmBroom 3 months ago

The article goes to lengths to explain the saying, without ever mentioning its source... and so I assume the author also doesn't realize the common saying is a misquote. The actual quote makes a LOT more sense:

Shakespeare's King John, Act II (SALISBURY): ...To gild refined gold, to paint the lily, ...Is wasteful and ridiculous excess.

Gild all the lilies you want; artificial flowers have resale value.

But gold-plating gold? Yeah, that's just stupid.

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