The questions are diamonds you hold in the light. Study a lifetime and you see different colors from the same jewel. The same questions, asked again, bring you just the answers you need just the minute you need them. – Richard Bach, Running From Safety

If wisdom and diamonds grew on the same tree we could soon tell how much men loved wisdom. – Lemuel K. Washburn, Is The Bible Worth Reading And Other Essays, 1911

There is in them a softer fire than the ruby, there is the brilliant purple of the amethyst, and the sea green of the emerald – all shining together in incredible union. Some by their splendor rival the colors of the painters, others the flame of burning sulphur or of fire quickened by oil. – Pliny, about the opal

The ruby encloses the brilliant red of the clouds of evening… – Charles Blanc, Art in Ornament and Dress, 1875, translated from French