Principles

That brings me to my first principle: (Location 92)

People who have shared values and principles get along. People who don’t will suffer through constant misunderstandings and conflicts. (Location 97)

This way of learning and improving has been best for me because of what I’m like and because of what I do. I’ve always had a bad rote memory and didn’t like following other people’s instructions, but I loved figuring out how things work for myself. I hated school because of my bad memory (Location 115)

I’ve always had a bad rote memory and didn’t like following other people’s instructions, but I loved figuring out how things work for myself. (Location 116)

Experience taught me how invaluable it is to reflect on and write down my decision-making criteria whenever I made a decision, so I got in the habit of doing that. With time, my collection of principles became like a collection of recipes for decision making. (Location 131)

The most important thing is that you develop your own principles and ideally write them down, especially if you are working with others. (Location 143)

I will give them to you in two books—Life and Work Principles in one book, and Economic and Investment Principles in the other. (Location 155)

When I didn’t want to do something, I would fight it, but when I was excited about something, nothing could hold me back. For example, while I resisted doing chores at home, I eagerly did them outside the house to earn money. (Location 231)

The more strongly they make those assurances, the more desperate the situation probably is, so the more likely it is that a devaluation will take place. (Location 324)

better make sense of what happened to other people in other times and other places because if you don’t you won’t know if these things can happen to you and, if they do, you won’t know how to deal with them.” (Location 333)

The most painful lesson that was repeatedly hammered home is that you can never be sure of anything: (Location 444)

In my case, I wanted meaningful work and meaningful relationships equally, and I valued money less—as long as I had enough to take care of my basic needs. (Location 455)

I realized I was facing one of life’s big turning points and my choices would have big implications for me and for my family’s future. (Location 595)

So I learned to be radically open-minded to allow others to point out what I might be missing. (Location 623)

some people are prone to take on too much risk while others are too risk averse; some are too focused on the details while others are too big-picture. Most are too much one way and not enough another. Typically, by doing what comes naturally to us, we fail to account for our weaknesses, which leads us to crash. (Location 633)

From very early on, whenever I took a position in the markets, I wrote down the criteria I used to make my decision. Then, when I closed out a trade, I could reflect on how well these criteria had worked. (Location 672)

At that point, our business consisted of three main areas: consulting for fees, managing companies’ risks for incentive fees, and selling the research packages. (Location 724)

I have found it helpful to think of my life as if it were a game in which each problem I face is a puzzle I need to solve. (Location 1954)

Collecting these gems continually improves my decision making, so I am able to ascend to higher and higher levels of play in which the game (Location 1955)

Some people want to change the world and others want to operate in simple harmony with it and savor life. Neither is better. Each of us needs to decide what we value most and choose the paths we take to achieve it. (Location 1976)

Learning is the product of a continuous real-time feedback loop in which we make decisions, see their outcomes, and improve our understanding of reality as a result. (Location 1995)