• Said to be a remark made to his servant when a student asked what he would get out of studying geometry." - Meaning and context.">
QuotesCosmos
'threepence' renders τριώβολον "three-obol-piece". This amount increases the sarcasm of Euclid's reply, as it was the standard fee of a Dikastes for attending a court case (μίσθος δικαστικός), thus inverting the role of teacher and pupil to that of accused and juror.
• The English translation is by The History of Greek Mathematics by Thomas Little Heath (1921), p. 357. The quote is recorded by Stobaeus' Florilegium iv, 114 (ed. Teubner 1856, p. 205; see also here). Stobaeus attributes the anecdote to Serenus.
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Give him threepence, since he must make gain out of what he learns. (Δός αὐτῷ τριώβολον, ἐπειδὴ δεῖ αὐτῷ ἐξ ὧν μανθάνει κερδαίνειν)
• Said to be a remark made to his servant when a student asked what he would get out of studying geometry.

— Euclid

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Give him threepence, since he must make gain out of what he learns. (Δός αὐτῷ τριώβολον, ἐπειδὴ δεῖ αὐτῷ ἐξ ὧν μανθάνει κερδαίνειν)
• Said to be a remark made to his servant when a student asked what he would get out of studying geometry." in the context of "'threepence' renders τριώβολον "three-obol-piece". This amount increases the sarcasm of Euclid's reply, as it was the standard fee of a Dikastes for attending a court case (μίσθος δικαστικός), thus inverting the role of teacher and pupil to that of accused and juror.
• The English translation is by The History of Greek Mathematics by Thomas Little Heath (1921), p. 357. The quote is recorded by Stobaeus' Florilegium iv, 114 (ed. Teubner 1856, p. 205; see also here). Stobaeus attributes the anecdote to Serenus." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Euclid" (Quotes, Attributed) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

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Euclid

About Euclid

Euclid (Greek: Εὐκλείδης), also known as Euclid of Alexandria, was a Greek mathematician, often referred to as the "founder of geometry" or the "father of geometry". He was active in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy I (323–283 BC). His Elements is one of the most influential works in the history of mathematics, serving as the main textbook for teaching mathematics (especially geometry) from the time of its publication until the late 19th or early 20th century. In the Elements, Euclid deduced the theorems of what is now called Euclidean geometry from a small set of axioms. Euclid also wrote works on perspective, conic sections, spherical geometry, number theory, and mathematical rigour.