If you don't know diamonds, you must...

If you don't know diamonds, you must…

I grew up in a small town in Oklahoma. We had a drug store that also served as our jewelry store. In the window of our drug store there was this message "If you don't know your diamonds, you must know your jeweler." This was the motto of Zales Jewelers, which was the maker of the jewelry sold by this drug store.

I often pondered over this mysterious message; I recognized it as being important, but my young mind could not yet comprehend its meaning. I finally solved the meaning of my mysterious motto and now recognize that it is a great motto for the self-learner. "If you seek to know, know your source." If you want to know something, go to the expert for your answer.

Our libraries are filled with books written by experts. These experts are not only experts in a domain of knowledge but they are also experts at making that domain of knowledge comprehensible for the lay person.

Forums are great places for becoming conscious of ideas, but forums are not a dependable source for getting the real skinny. If you want to acquire dependable knowledge, take your questions with your curiosity and caring to the books. Don't depend upon an unknown source for the real skinny when that knowledge will perhaps be the foundation that you will use to make future judgments in your life.