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Quotes of the Day for 26 January 2005 - Diamond

At the end of this day in 1905, mine supervisor Frederick Wells was heading out of the Cullinan diamond mine in Gauteng, South Africa. He looked up and saw what he thought was a chunk of glass stuck in the wall as a prank, but it was the largest gem diamond ever found at 3,106 carats. The Cullinan Diamond was sent to Asscher Brothers of Amsterdam for cutting, where it was studied for months before the first cut was attempted. On that first cut, the blade shattered. A second attempt split the rock exactly as planned, and Asscher fainted from the stress. The two largest pieces cut are part of the British Crown Jewels and can be seen in the Tower of London. Here are some thoughts on lesser diamonds on the Cullinan's centennial.

Diamonds are nothing more than chunks of coal that stuck to their jobs.
     - Malcolm S. Forbes, 1919 - 1990

Let us not be too particular: it is better to have old secondhand diamonds than none at all.
     - Mark Twain, 1835 - 1910

No pressure, no diamonds.
     - Mary Case

Praise, like gold and diamonds, owes its value only to its scarcity.
     - Dr Samuel Johnson, 1709 - 1784

A poet who makes use of a worse word instead of a better, because the former fits the rhyme or the measure, though it weakens the sense, is like a jeweller, who cuts a diamond into a brilliant, and diminishes the weight to make it shine more.
     - Horace Walpole, 1717 - 1797

I never hated a man enough to give him his diamonds back.
     - Zsa Zsa Gabor

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