<p>I googled "<em>The value of a thing is just as much as it will bring.</em>" in quotes, and got several hits that show Marx referred to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Butler_(poet)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Samuel Butler</a>, the author of Hudibras.</p>

<p><a href="https://h2o.law.harvard.edu/text_blocks/524" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Here is one.</a></p>

<p><a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3029947&amp;partId=1&amp;people=86878&amp;peoA=86878-1-6&amp;page=1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Here is a another, see Inscription.</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-10T00:45:09.720Z
I can't reproduce your googling that shows your claim!!
tatojo
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-10T09:01:49.623Z
@tatojo I added some links.
Giskard
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-10T11:14:05.733Z
There are two Samuel Butler, one (4 December 1835 – 18 June 1902) wrote *Erewhon*, the other (baptized 14 February 1613 – 25 September 1680) *Hudibras*. In you second link, it points that the quote is from Hudibras. There I found "For what is worth in any thing, But so much money as ’twill bring?" (Part II, Canto I). Although similar, is not *the* quote.
tatojo
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-10T11:29:53.233Z
@tatojo Oops, my mistake, it is the second Butler they are talking about. The poem was translated several times (as was Marx's writing), this much variance is normal. Both the links I gave claim the quote is from Hudibras, yet even those texts do not match perfectly.
Giskard
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-09T19:11:29.623Z
2019-11-10T11:30:41.200Z
2019-11-10T11:30:41.200Z
Giskard
<p>In footnote [7] of Marx's Capital, T.I, Ch. 1, Sec 1, after ...<em>contradictio in adjecto</em>, there are these quotes: «Nothing can have an intrinsick value.» (N. Barbon, t. c., p. 6); or as Butler says - «The value of a thing is just as much as it will bring.». </p>

<p>Does somebody knows who is this Butler and where is that quote? </p>

<value><marxism>
Who is Butler in Marx' footnote in Das Kapital?
tatojo
# Who is Butler in Marx' footnote in Das Kapital?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-11-09)

In footnote [7] of Marx's Capital, T.I, Ch. 1, Sec 1, after ...*contradictio in adjecto*, there are these quotes: «Nothing can have an intrinsick value.» (N. Barbon, t. c., p. 6); or as Butler says - «The value of a thing is just as much as it will bring.».

Does somebody knows who is this Butler and where is that quote?

**Tags:** value, marxism


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-11-09. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

I googled "*The value of a thing is just as much as it will bring.*" in quotes, and got several hits that show Marx referred to [Samuel Butler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Butler_(poet)), the author of Hudibras.

[Here is one.](https://h2o.law.harvard.edu/text_blocks/524)

[Here is a another, see Inscription.](https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3029947&partId=1&people=86878&peoA=86878-1-6&page=1)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I can't reproduce your googling that shows your claim!!  
> **username_1**: @username_0 I added some links.  
> **username_0**: There are two Samuel Butler, one (4 December 1835 – 18 June 1902) wrote *Erewhon*, the other (baptized 14 February 1613 – 25 September 1680) *Hudibras*. In you second link, it points that the quote is from Hudibras. There I found "For what is worth in any thing, But so much money as ’twill bring?" (Part II, Canto I). Although similar, is not *the* quote.  
> **username_1**: @username_0 Oops, my mistake, it is the second Butler they are talking about. The poem was translated several times (as was Marx's writing), this much variance is normal. Both the links I gave claim the quote is from Hudibras, yet even those texts do not match perfectly.  

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