diamond quotes

It must be owned, that the Graces do not seem to be natives of Great Britain; and I doubt, the best of us here have more of rough than polished diamond.

- Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
  Letter to his son,11 Nov.

  The soul is placed in the body like a rough diamond, and must be polished, or the lustre of it will never appear.

- Daniel Defoe
  An Essay upon Projects,'Of  Academies:  An  Academy for Women'.

   Iamall atonce what Christ is, sincehewaswhat Iam, and This Jack, joke, poor potsherd, patch, matchwood, immortal diamond, Is immortal diamond.

-Gerard Manley Hopkins
  'That Nature is a Heraclitean Fire'.

So I really think that American gentlemen are the best after all, because kissing your hand may make you feel very very good but a diamond and safire bracelet lasts forever. 517

- Anita Loos
  Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, ch.4.

The word, it is to be observed, has two different meanings, and sometimes the utility of some particular object, and sometimes the power of purchasing other goods which the possession of that object conveys. This one may be called 'value in use'; the other,'value in exchange'. The things which have the greatest value in usehave frequently little or novalue in exchange; and on the contrary, those which have the greatest value in exchange have frequently little or no value in use. Nothing is more useful than water: but it will purchase scarce any thing; scarce any thing can be had in exchange for it. A diamond, on the contrary, has scarce any value in use; but a very great quantity of other goods may frequently be had in exchange for it.

- Adam Smith
VALUE1776  An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of theWealth of Nations, bk.1, ch.4.

It isno more easy to make a good picture than it isto find a diamond or a pearl. It means trouble and you risk your life for it.

-Vincent van Gogh
  From a letter to his brotherTheo, early Oct.