# Something with diamonds in it

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Joke
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-joke-valentine-diamonds-cards
- Themes: humour, marriage
- Life situations: marriage, gift-giving

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

Asked what she wants for Valentine's Day, a wife says, “I need nothing, I've got you.” “Yes, but what do you want?” “Something, anything with diamonds in.” Next day she opens a pack of playing cards: thirteen diamonds.

## The story, as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)

Like that one of my favorite jokes like the person who asked his his wife, he said, "Valentine's Day tomorrow, darling, what do you want?" And she said, "I need nothing. I've got you." He said, "Yes, but what do you want?" He'd been married long enough to know women. And so she looked at him and said, "Something, anything with diamonds in." So when she opened her present the following day, she found a pack of playing cards. It has 13 diamonds in it.

## Teaching point

(A light aside in a talk about marriage.)

## Reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)

Asked what she wanted for Valentine's Day, the wife first said nothing, then anything with diamonds; he gave her a pack of playing cards. Ajahn Brahm uses the joke to make light of the strains in a marriage. Partnerships aren't effortless, but they can be worked at. A shared laugh at your own foibles helps more than diamonds do.

## Source

- [Making Our Own Joy | Ajahn Brahm | 04 Dec 2015](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSQpOCenwMw) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 14:22 to 15:09: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSQpOCenwMw&t=862s