No matter how well-versed an investor is in financial literature, he will only truly understand what a crisis is when he experiences it—when, with all his resources fully allocated to financial assets, a crisis breaks out. Before that, no matter how much he knows, it amounts to very little. Afterward, he can finally say he has been baptized as an investor. And so it is on countless other occasions. Sometimes, the nature of an experience can only be grasped when the blood boils and the heart races: it is only by suffering it that one can grasp its power.
Tag: behavior
The Man Loves Coffee. For Years…
The man loves coffee. For years, for his entire life, he has drunk it every morning and enjoyed it. He loves the warm sensation on his tongue, the flavor that lingers in his mouth, and the obvious mental boost he relies on to work. He considers himself a connoisseur of the drink, just as he believes in the real benefits it brings to his daily life. In short: coffee makes him happy. Then comes the day when he tastes a superior-quality coffee that leaves his palate in ecstasy. When he returns to the old coffee he used to drink, he clearly realizes it is rubbish. He investigates the matter and discovers that it is indeed rubbish, in which real coffee, though made from lower-quality beans, is mixed with a wide variety of impurities, including some too unspeakable to name, and the whole lot is over-roasted to mask its defects. From that day forward, the same coffee, the drink he once cherished so much and which had brought him pleasure his whole life, will never satisfy him again. And philosophy, as it always does, poses the question: is knowledge worth it?
Since Most of Our Time Is Always Devoted…
Since most of our time is always devoted to trivial matters, it should be easier to convince our minds of the need to try to imbue them with meaning. If only! What happens most often is that we see them all as nuisances, as boundless nonsense that erodes our time and motivation. In short, true existence seems to be limited to those rare moments when reason grasps the importance of what one is doing—and this, certainly, cannot be allowed to remain as it is.
Above All, It Is Essential to Banish…
Above all, it is essential to banish the possibility of despair and shield oneself in advance against this undesirable and potentially fatal trap. And then to learn to deal with guilt, death, discouragement, and suffering, always seeking to draw something good from them. Misfortune, as has been said, often comes in pairs; but it also opens a door, and it will always be that way.