50 Pearl Quotes About the Beautiful Gemstones

Check out these pearl quotes to learn more about the beauty and symbolism of these gemstones.

Pearls are produced by oysters in saltwater and by mussels in freshwater, making pearls the only gemstone created by a living organism.

Pearls are hard, glistening objects that are produced inside of mollusks when they cover an irritant, such as food particles, with layers of nacre.

When fully formed, pearls are beautiful gemstones that come in many colors and sizes and are well known for their luster, which is how they reflect light.

Pearls can take from six months to four years to form in saltwater and even longer in freshwater, therefore making them even more valuable.

The beauty and mystery of pearls have led some cultures to believe that they have healing powers, are an embodiment of wisdom, or even represent the spirit on the path to perfection.

A memorable experience getting pearls

As a child, my grandparents took my family to Weeki Wachee in Florida.

We watched a mermaid show, which was the most incredible thing for me as a young child.

And then, we went to a store where you could pay to choose a shell and see what kind of pearl you had inside.

I honestly don’t remember if I got to pick a shell or not, but the experience was so exciting seeing what pearls would be inside, either way.

Take a look at these pearl quotes to learn more about the beauty of pearls.

Best Pearl Quotes

Check out some of the best quotes about pearls!

1. “Pearls are always appropriate.” — Jackie Kennedy

2. “Pearls are at the heart of an oyster.” — Susan C. Young

3.“I favor pearls on screen and in my private life.” — Grace Kelly

4. “The Pearl Principle – no inner irritation, no pearl.” — Surya Das

5. “What strikes the oyster shell, doesn’t damage the pearl.” — Rumi

6. “He who would search for pearls must dive below.” — John Dryden

7. “A pearl is only a pearl once it’s out of its shell.” — Nigerian Proverb

8. “Why wear one string when you can wear two?” — Coco Chanel

9. “The pearl is the queen of the gems and the gems of the Queen.” — Grace Kelly

10. “When I’m cold, I just put another rope of pearls on.” — Dorothy Parker

Pearl Quotes About The Gem in Fashion

Pearls are an important fashion piece for many, as shown in the following quotes.

11. “You can’t ever go wrong with pearls. Perhaps pearls are a girl’s best friend after all.” — Ki Hackney

12. “Next to sound judgment, diamonds and pearls are the rarest things in the world.” — Jean de la Bruyere

13. “My dream is to adorn the neck of all women around the world with pearls.” — Kokichi Mikimoto

14. “I feel undressed if I don’t have my pearls on. My pearls are my security blanket.” — Lady Sarah Churchill

15. “I had just received La Peregrina from New York on a delicate little chain and I was wearing it like a talisman.” — Elizabeth Taylor

16. “I think it looks terrible if you have really long hair and it’s gone gray. So I am experimenting with wearing it up. Up, with pearls. I think that’s quite a good look.” — Jerry Hall

17. “A timeless piece of jewelry, like pearls or stud earrings, has lasting value. I bought a vintage ring for $600 with my first paycheck; I plan to pass it down to my daughter.” — Ivanka Trump

18. “As a pearl is formed and its layers grow, a rich iridescence begins to glow. The oyster has taken what was at first an irritation and intrusion and uses it to enrich its value.” — Susan C. Young

19. “Coco Chanel used to talk about wearing more than one string of pearls. Why wear one if you can wear two, or something to that effect. I think that one string of pearls is just fine. But that’s because my pearls are black, hers were white.” — C. JoyBell C.

Pearl Quotes with Life Lessons

Pearls are often used in stories and lessons to educate and drive home a point as shown in the following quotes.

20. “Life is like a precious pearl.” — Lailah Gifty Akita

21. “A legend grows around a grain of truth, like a pearl.” — Peter S. Beagle

22. “The world is your oyster. It’s up to you to find the pearls.” — Chris Gardner

23. “Dive into the sea of thought, and find there pearls beyond price.” — Moses ibn Ezra

24. “Pearls don’t lie on the seashore, if you want one, you must dive for it.” — Chinese Proverb

25. “How could you reach the pearl by only looking at the sea? If you seek the pearl, be a diver.” — Rumi

26. “Real friendship, like poetry, is extremely rare—and precious as a pearl.” — Tahar Ben Jelloun

27.“As coal pressured into pearls by our weight existence. Beauty that arose out of pain.” — Suzanne Collins

28. “True beauty is measured by the number of pearls within you, not those around your neck.” — Suzy Kassem

29. “If there are irritations in our lives today, there is only one prescription: make a pearl.” — Harry Emerson Fosdick

30. “God changes caterpillars into butterflies, sand into pearls and coal into diamonds using time and pressure. He’s working on you, too.” — Rick Warren

More Memorable Quotes About Pearls

You may recognize these quotes about pearls.

31. “Peace is as precious as pearls.” — Lailah Gifty Akita

32. “Age before beauty, and pearls before swine.” — Dorothy Parker

33. “All art is autobiographical; the pearl is the oyster’s autobiography.” — Frederico Fellini

34. “You have to push people. You have to be the agitator that makes the pearl.” — Marlo Thomas

35. “In diving to the bottom of pleasure, we bring up more gravel than pearls.” — Honore de Balzac

36. “Those who look for seashells will find seashells; those who open them will find pearls.” — Al-Ghazali

37. “I like the laughter that opens the lips and the heart, shows at the same time the pearls and the soul.” — Victor Hugo

38. “It is the hour of pearl—the interval between day and night when time stops and examines itself.” — John Steinbeck

39. “The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, it has its tides and in its depths, it has its pearls too.” — Vincent Van Gogh

40. “In life, collect friends; like precious pearls. They are only ones who believed in you when no one else did. They are worthy to be by your side.” — Alan Maiccon

More Insights and Pearl Quotes

Here are more quotes using “pearls” to make a point.

41. “Each pearl is a jewel of wisdom, wrestled from struggle and strung in sequence to create infinite insight and compassion for the mermaid who wears them.” — Margot Datz

42. “A pearl is a beautiful thing that is produced by an injured life. If we had not been wounded, if we had not been injured, then we will not produce the pearl.” — Stephen Hoeller

43.  “Fame is a pearl many dive for and only a few bring up. Even when they do, it is not perfect, and they sigh for more, and lose better things in struggling for them.” — Louisa May Alcott

44. “Impressions are like pearls; ideas are like the string that turns the pearls into a necklace. The string is invisible, but it is not dispensable and cannot be broken.” — Mu Xin

45. “Like a layer on a pearl, you can’t specifically identify the irritant, the moment of the irritant, but at the end of the day, you know you have a pearl.” — Ken Burns

46. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” — Matthew 13:45-46

Additional Pearl Quotes

Enjoy these last few quotes about the precious and valuable gem. 

47. “Sometimes, the ocean floor is only a stop on the journey. And it is when you are at this lowest point, that you are faced with a choice. You can stay there are the bottom, until you drown. Or you can gather pearls and rise back up—stronger from the swim, and richer from the jewels.” — Yasmin Mogahed

48. “There is just one piece of jewelry that is equally becoming to everybody, lovely with almost every ensemble, appropriate for almost any occasion, and indispensable in every woman’s wardrobe…long live the pearl necklace, true or false, from our first date until our last breath!” — Genevieve Antoine Dariaux

49.  “A pure soul is like a fine pearl. As long as it is hidden in the shell, at the bottom of the sea, no one thinks of admiring it. But if you bring it into the sunshine, this pearl will shine and attract all eyes. Thus the pure soul, which is hidden from the eyes of the world, will one day shine before the Angels in the sunshine of eternity.” — John Vianney

50. “Beauty of form affects the mind, but then it must be understood that it is not the mere shell that we admire; we are attracted by the idea that this shell is only a beautiful case adjusted to the shape and value of a still more beautiful pearl within. The perfection of outward loveliness is the soul shining through its crystalline covering.” — Jane Porter

Where Are Pearls Found?

There are two types of pearls: natural and cultured pearls.

Natural pearls are found in nature naturally, but since only one out of 10,000 mollusks produce pearls and the fact that mollusk numbers have dwindled, cultured pearls have become popular.

Cultured pearls are created by mollusks in a controlled atmosphere and, although beautiful, are not worth as much as natural pearls.

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