Take away the gold lure, and precious stones wouldn't sell at the price of window glass." "Is that so?
How about me?
It isn't because a stone is worth so much that makes me want it.

I want it for the sheer beauty; I want it for the tremendous panorama the sight of it unfolds in my mind.

I imagine what happened from the hour the stone was mined to the hour it came into my possession.

To me--to all genuine collectors--the intrinsic value is nil.

Can't you see?
It is for me what Balzac's La Peau de Chagrin would be to you if you had fallen on it for the first time--money, love, tragedy, death." An interruption came in the form of one of the office boys.