Saturday, December 18, 2021

Sometimes the questions are . . .

. . . more important than the answers. Morgan Housel asks seventeen pretty good question.  Here are three:

What are we ignoring today that will seem shockingly obvious in a year?

How much have things outside of my control contributed to things I take credit for?

How do I know if I’m being patient (a skill) or stubborn (a flaw)? They’re hard to tell apart without hindsight.

On binds...............................

 It isn't things that bind you, but your attachment to things.

-Tilopa

Pack light..................................

 Each quandary is a call for experimentation.  Each experiment a question put to the world.  Each answer a journey.  Let life plan the itinerary.  Your job is to pack light and bring a camera.

-attributed to Max Elmore, from here

"Condemned" to be happy.......................

 We are probably the first societies in history to make people unhappy for not being happy.

-Frederic Lenoir,  Happiness:  A Philosopher's Guide

Divine.................................

Jennifer Nettles.......................O Holy Night and more

 

Friday, December 17, 2021

He is a better man than me...............

 "Until then, I’ll make my own risotto and duck breast."

-full story here

For those who want to discuss whether it should be "better man than I" as opposed to "better man than me", you can check this out.

Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Step outside..................................

      Smith in his book and with his life is telling us how to live.  Seek wisdom and virtue.  Behave as if an impartial spectator is watching you.  Use the idea of an impartial spectator to step outside yourself and see yourself as others see you.  Use that vision to know yourself.  Avoid the seductions of money and fame, for they will never satisfy.

-Russ Roberts,  How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life:  An Unexpected Guide To Human Nature And Happiness


The Gap................................

 . . . one day as I was wandering between stacks of books in the back of the college library, I came across a book that drew my interest.  As I opened it, my eyes fell upon a single paragraph that powerfully influenced the rest of my life.

     I read the paragraph over and over again.  It basically contained the simple idea that there is a gap or a space between stimulus and response, and that the key to both our growth and happiness is how we use that space.

-Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People

Monday, December 13, 2021

a fascinating thread worth pulling.............

 Perhaps the greatest lesson from the past is how important it is to be inspired by things that surprise us.  When I come across a quirky business model in an unpopular space, I try to find a fascinating thread worth pulling.  I challenge myself to stop comparing what I learn to the past.  If you only look for patterns of the past, you won't venture far.

-Scott Belsky

On "inside" tips.................................

 Wall Street professionals know that acting on "inside" tips will break a man more quickly than famine, pestilence, crop failures, political readjustments or what might be called normal accidents.  There is no asphalt boulevard to success in Wall Street or anywhere else.  Why additionally block traffic?

-Edwin Lefevre, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator

A good question asked.....................

 Shouldn't we accept delayed gratification as a virtue and not a punishment?

-Jon Hanson