Sam Veda - John Milton - Elizabeth Taylor - Lawrence Grossman - Thomas Gray - Proverbs - Richelle Mead - Arthur Conan Doyle - Anita Loos - Uncut Gems 2019 - Time Team: Secrets of the Anglo-Saxon Gold
Gems being precious just cannot be possessed by all and sundry. Sam Veda
Sweet the coming on
Of grateful evening mild, then silent night
With this her solemn bird and this fair moon,
And these the gems of heaven, her starry train. John Milton, Paradise Lost 4:646
I adore wearing gems, but not because they are mine. You can’t possess radiance; you can only admire it. Elizabeth Taylor
You wait for a gem in an endless sea of blah. Lawrence Grossman
Full many a gem of purest serene
The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear. Thomas Gray, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
A gem is not polished without rubbing, nor a man made perfect without trials. Chinese proverbs
There are little gems all around us that can hold glimmers of inspiration. Richelle Mead
Holmes took up the stone and held it against the light. ‘It’s a bonny thing,’ said he. ‘Just see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil’s pet baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the gallows and the prison? Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle
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. Anita Loos, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, 1925
You’re sending collectors to fuck with me at my office? Are you out of your fucking mind? … The watch they took from me is worth $20,000: I want that deducted from the $100,000. Uncut Gems 2019 starring Adam Sandler & Lakeith Stanfield & Julia Fox & Kevin Garnett & Idina Menzel & Eric Bogosian & Judd Hirsch & Keith Williams & Jonathan Aranbayev & Noa Fisher & Abel Tesfaye & Mike Francesca, How on dog-n-bone
That’s a million dollar [black] opal you’re holding. Straight from the Ethiopian Jewish town. This is old school. Middle Earth shit. ibid.
Bookie: It’s the dumbest fucking bet I ever heard of.
Howard: I disagree. ibid.
The Staffordshire hoard’s intricate and beautiful artefacts display the skills of Anglo-Saxon goldsmiths at their very best. Time Team: Secrets of the Anglo-Saxon Gold, Channel 4 2012
The Treasury Valuation Committee later priced the hoard at over £3,000,000. ibid.
Sutton Hoo: an undisturbed magnificent royal ship burial and a whole series of spectacular artefacts. ibid.
Garnets weren’t mined in England so where on earth did the Anglo-Saxons get their gem stones? ibid.