Mistakes, Wisdom and Beauty: A Life Hunting Gem Stones

Roman philosopher, statesman ran out of university after two weeks. I used the student loan to start my first business. I was 19 and the year was 1970. I have been a serial entrepreneur since then.

I cannot adequately measure the amount of money I have lost throughout my entrepreneurial forays, but suffice it to say it is in the millions. In the gem sector alone I think my losses are around $300,000 to $400,000. The University of Experience(F**K U) is very expensive indeed.

I can only hope that all that experience will compound into a few modest understandings of human nature — both my nature and others. I have always said that we are all treasure hunters. Whether we seek our soul mates, our lovers, respect from our peers, great wealth, a few pearls of wisdom, God ... we hunt. We hope to be graced with luck, chosen by the unknown forces to be showered with bounty. Ask yourself: would you rather be graced by Luck or a pile of money? I have seen the same haunted look in the eyes of a merchant banker with 500,000,000 and a woman panning for emeralds in the Muzo river valley in Colombia. Both bewitched by possibilities of finding treasure.

But of all the resources that are hunted, gems are the most enchanting. Surely, they bring out the greed in every hunter. To possess jewels can be beyond one’s ability to control. To romance the stone is like clothing your naked lover with your fantasies. She becomes everything that can be imagined. To hunt for gems is to be always vulnerable; to be subject to greed, romance and beauty. So the money I've lost has been a beautiful expense: I will always remember to be cautious and let my experience lead to the greatest treasures of them all ... wisdom and love.