In diving to the bottom of pleasure we bring up more gravel than pearls. – Honore de Balzac

How much art and science, and what attention, what care is necessary to render the sun-beams which are imprisoned in a tiny polyhedron of pure carbon, brilliant and sparkling! – Charles Blanc, Art in Ornament and Dress, 1875, translated from French

Now the melancholy God protect thee, and the tailor make thy garments of changeable taffeta, for thy mind is opal. – William Shakespeare, The Twelfth Night

A fine quotation is a diamond on the finger of a witty person, but a pebble in the hands of a fool. – Author Unknown