Ben Franklin's Quotes

1. A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over. 祸从口出
2. Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment. 沉默是金
3. Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it, is.
4. Wish not so much to live long as to live well.
5. Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. （Tuo's version: Those who would give up self respect to purchase a little temporary job safety deserve neither respect nor safety)
6. If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write something worth reading or do things worth the writing.
7. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.
8. At 20 years of age the will reigns, at 30 the wit, at 40 the judgment. 三十而立，四十而不惑，五十而知天命
9. If you would persuade, you must appeal to interest rather than intellect.
10. Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none.
11. Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead
13. Perhaps the history of the errors of mankind, all things considered, is more valuable and interesting than that of their discoveries. Truth is uniform and narrow; it constantly exists, and does not seem to require so much an active energy, as a passive aptitude of the soul in order to encounter it. But error is endlessly diversified; it has no reality, but is the pure and simple creation of the mind that invents it. In this field the soul has room enough to expand herself, to display all her boundless faculties, and all her beautiful and interesting extravagancies and absurdities. (幸福的家庭都是相似的，不幸的家庭各有各的不幸）

14. Fish and visitors smell in three days.
15. To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals.
16. God heals, and the doctor takes the fees.
17. Drive thy business or it will drive thee.

Today's Reading: The Essential Buffett 1

The Essential Buffett: Timeless Principles For the New Economy
by Robert G. Hagstrom

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world, the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man" - Bernard Shaw

Buffett's four-part investment strategy:
1. Analyze a stock as a business
2. Demand a margin of saftey for each purchase
3. Manage a focus portifolio
4. Protect yourself from the speculative and emotional forces of the market

Tenets of the Warren Buffett Way
Business Tenets
1. Is the business simple and understandable?
2. Does the business have a consistent operating history?
3. Does the busines have favorable long-term propects?

Management Tenets
1. Is management rational?
2. Is management candid with its shareholders?
3. Does management resist the institutional imperative?

Financial Tenets
1. Focus on return on equity, not earning per share.
2. Calculate "owner earnings"
3. Look for companies with high profit margins
4. For every dollar retained, make sure the company has created at least one dollar of market value.

Makret Tenets
1. What is the value of the business?
2. Can the business be purchased at a significant discount to its value?

McCain and Bush Tax Cut

"He(McCain)'s embraced the Bush tax cuts that he voted against. He was against them being temporary; now he wants them being permanent. That's like marrying a girl you didn't want to date. "
----- Democratic strategist and CNN contributor Paul Begala

Gospel of Thomas vs. Daodejing

1. And he said, "Whoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death."
孔子：“朝闻道，夕死可矣”

2. Jesus said, "Those who seek should not stop seeking until they find. When they find, they will be disturbed. When they are disturbed, they will marvel, and will reign over all.
48.为学日益。为道日损。损之又损，以至於无为。无为而不为。取天下常以无事，及其有事，不足以取天下。

3. When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty.
第三十三章. 知人者智， 自知者明。 胜人者有力， 自胜者强。 知足者富。 强行者有志。 不失其所者久。 死而不亡者寿。

4. Jesus said, "The person old in days won't hesitate to ask a little child seven days old about the place of life, and that person will live.
55.含德之厚比於赤子。毒虫不螫，猛兽不据，攫鸟不抟。骨弱筋柔而握固。未知牝牡之合而全作，精之至也。终日号而不嗄，和之至也。知和曰常。知常曰明。益生曰祥。心使气曰强。物壮则老。谓之不道，不道早已。

5. Jesus said, "Know what is in front of your face, and what is hidden from you will be disclosed to you. 　

(6) His disciples questioned him and said to him, "Do you want us to fast? How shall we pray? Shall we give alms? What diet shall we observe?" Jesus said, "Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate, for all things are plain in the sight of heaven. For nothing hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain without being uncovered."
73. 天网恢恢疏而不失

11. On the day when you were one, you became two. But when you become two, what will you do?"
42.道生一。一生二。二生三。三生万物。

(17) Jesus said, "I shall give you what no eye has seen and what no ear has heard and what no hand has touched and what has never occurred to the human mind."

(24) His disciples said to him, "Show us the place where you are, since it is necessary for us to seek it." He said to them, "Whoever has ears, let him hear. There is light within a man of light, and he lights up the whole world. If he does not shine, he is darkness."

(70) Jesus said, "That which you have will save you if you bring it forth from yourselves. That which you do not have within you will kill you if you do not have it within you."

110% 方案

Mark McCormick 的“110% solution” 是老弟留下的几本“人生（商业）启蒙”书的一本。我向来对这类图书不太感冒：冠军是读书读出来的吗？

近来闲的无事，随手翻了翻，竟读到一个很有意义的故事：Mark 是一位成功的体育明星经纪人，一直是慧眼识珠（高尔夫和网球的明星很多在他名下）。只有一位高尔夫球员，素有“坏小子”之称，是很多经纪人眼中的麻烦角色，Mark 却长期与他签约。手下人不理解，Mark就给他们讲了一件小事：几年前的一天，Mark收到一封信。信里夹着一些加币的现金。原来这位高尔夫球手应邀去加拿大参加了一场球赛，因为方便，他就自己订了机票和旅馆，而对方也用现金支付了奖金。 Mark 能够想象的到这一幕：这位球手回到旅馆的房间，把10%的现金一张张点出来，在Mark 的经纪人公司完全不知道的情况下，如数寄回了经纪人应得的部分。

我不知道在信主之前我能否做到这些，因为“人人为自己，上帝为大家”，更有文化的会说“人不为己，天诛地灭”。 经上却说，“聪明人中了自己的诡计”。 可是我如何能放弃眼前的利益呢？如何能相信正直无伪的必定得蒙祝福呢？不是说“手中的一只鸟，胜过林中的两只鸟么？” 我甚至不知道现在的我一定能做到这些，因为我信，但“信不足焉”。

我想这个故事的答案就在于信心，在于对神对人的确信，在于能不能做那有福的“没有看见就信的人”。 信心不是天然产生的，否则我们就不再罪中了。主耶稣说过：“

如果信心来源于看见神迹，以色列人又何至于在旷野漂流40年？如果信心来源于自己的天然能力，有谁会相信一位被钉死在十字架上的青年木匠？

你們若是在不義的錢財上不忠信，誰還把那真實的信託你們？
那些在磐石上的，就是人聽了道，歡喜領受，但沒有根，不過是暫時信了，在試煉的時候，就退後了。

君子安雅

1. 水火有气而无生，草木有生而无知，禽兽有知而无义，人有气、有生、有知、亦且有义，故最为天下贵也。 ---王制篇
2. 人之所以为人者何已也？曰：以其有辨也。饥而欲食，寒而欲暖，劳而欲息，好利而恶害，是人之所生而有也，是无待而然者也，是禹、桀之所同也。然则人之所以为人者，非特以二足而无毛也，以其有辨也。……夫禽兽有父子而无父子之亲，有牝牡而无男女之别。故人道莫不有辨。《非相》
3. 凡生乎天地之间者，有血气之属必有知，有知之属莫不爱其类。今夫大鸟兽则失亡其群匹，越月逾时，则必反铅；过故乡，则必徘徊焉，鸣号焉，踯躅焉，踟蹰焉，然后能去之也。小者是燕爵犹有啁噍之顷焉，然后能去之。故有血气之属莫知于人。-- 礼论
4. 越人安越，楚人安楚，君子安雅 (正而有美德者谓之雅)

运命论

三国，李康
1. 夫治乱，运也；穷达，命也；贵贱，时也。屈原以之沉湘，贾谊以之发愤，不亦过乎！
2. 其所以得然者，岂徒人事哉？授之者天也，告之者神也，成之者运也。
3.孔子曰：“清明在躬，气志如神。嗜欲将至，有开必先。天降时雨，山川出云。”
4. 夫道足以济天下，而不得贵于人；言足以经万世，而不见信于时；行足以应神明，而不能弥纶于俗；应聘七十国，而不一获其主；驱骤于蛮夏之域，屈辱于公卿之门。其不遇也如此。... 其徒子夏，升堂而未入室者也。退老于家，魏文侯师之，西河之人肃然归德，比之于夫子而莫敢间其言。
5. 然则圣人所以为圣者，盖在乎乐天知命矣。故遇之而不怨，居之而不疑也。其身可抑，而道不可屈；其位可排，而名不可夺。...是以圣人处穷达如一也。故木秀于林，风必摧之；堆出于岸，流必湍之；行高于人，众必非之。
6.凡希世苟合之士，蘧蒢戚绝之人，俯仰尊贵之颜，逶迤势利之间，意无是非，赞之如流；言无可否，应之如响。
7. 天地之大德曰生，圣人之大宝曰位，何以守位曰仁，何以正人曰义。故古之为王者，盖以一人治天下，不以天下奉一人也。古之仕者，盖以官行其义，不以利冒其官也。古之君子，盖耻得之而弗能治也，不耻能治而弗得也。原乎天人之性，核乎荣辱之算，其昭然矣。故君子舍彼取此。