The game of life is the game of everlasting learning. At least it is if you want to win.
Your life must focus on the maximization of objectivity.
We all are learning, modifying, or destroying ideas all the time. Rapid destruction of your ideas when the time is right is one of the most valuable qualities you can acquire. You must force yourself to consider arguments on the other side.
We have a high moral responsibility to be rational.
The idea of excessive diversification is madness.
I think the notion that liquidity of tradable common stock is a great contributor to capitalism is mostly twaddle. The liquidity gives us these crazy booms, so it has as many problems as virtues.
The interesting thing is the field is so big – it’s enormous. One thing a modern civilization needs is energy.
Acquire worldly wisdom and adjust your behavior accordingly. If your new behavior gives you a little temporary unpopularity with your peer group then to hell with them.
It’s hard to predict what will happen with two brands in a market. Sometimes they will behave in a gentlemanly way, and sometimes they’ll pound each other. I know of no way to predict whether they’ll compete moderately or to the death. If you could figure it out, you could make a lot of money.
We don’t like trading agony for money.
The Internet bubble circa 2000 is the most extreme in modern capitalism. In the 1930s, we had the worst depression in 600 years. Today is almost as extreme in the opposite way.
Beta and modern portfolio theory and the like – none of it makes any sense to me.
A board member should be perfectly willing to leave at any time and willing to make the tough calls.
People always underestimate the ability of earth to increase its carrying capacity.
Proper accounting is like engineering. You need a margin of safety. Thank God we don’t design bridges and airplanes the way we do accounting.
If you always tell people why, they’ll understand it better, they’ll consider it more important, and they’ll be more likely to comply.
Invert, always invert.
We tend to buy things – a lot of things – where we don’t know exactly what will happen, but the outcome will be decent.
In my life there are not that many questions I can’t properly deal with using my $40 adding machine and dog-eared compound interest table.
I think liberal art faculties at major universities have views that are not very sound, at least on public policy issues – they may know a lot of French however.