Financial Wisdom Quotes

God is the source of my supply. His riches flow to me freely, copiously, and abundantly. All my financial and other needs are met at every moment of time and point of space; there is always a divine surplus.

When I was young, I forgot how to laugh in the cave of Trophonius; when I was older, I opened my eyes and beheld reality, at which I began to laugh, and since then, I have not stopped laughing. I saw that the meaning of life was to secure a livelihood, and that its goal was to attain a high position; that love’s rich dream was marriage with an heiress; that friendship’s blessing was help in financial difficulties; that wisdom was what the majority assumed it to be; that enthusiasm consisted in making a speech; that it was courage to risk the loss of ten dollars; that kindness consisted in saying, “You are welcome,” at the dinner table; that piety consisted in going to communion once a year. This I saw, and I laughed.

When I was very young and in the cave of Trophonius I forgot to laugh. Then, when I got older, when I opened my eyes and saw the real world, I began to laugh and I haven’t stopped since. I saw that the meaning of life was to get a livelihood, that the goal of life was to be a High Court judge, that the bright joy of love was to marry a well-off girl, that the blessing of friendship was to help each other out of a financial tight spot, that wisdom was what the majority said it was, that passion was to give a speech, that courage was to risk being fined 10 rix-dollars, that cordiality was to say ‘You’re welcome’ after a meal, and that the fear of God was to go to communion once a year. That’s what I saw. And I laughed.

Remember: we’re drowning in information, but we’re starving for wisdom.

The same thing happened to me that, according to legend, happened to Parmeniscus, who in the Trophonean cave lost the ability to laugh but acquired it again on the island of Delos upon seeing a shapeless block that was said to be the image of the goddess Leto. When I was very young, I forgot in the Trophonean cave how to laugh; when I became an adult, when I opened my eyes and saw actuality, then I started to laugh and have never stopped laughing since that time. I saw that the meaning of life was to make a living, its goal to be- come a councilor, that the rich delight oflove was to acquire a well-to-do girl, that the blessedness of friendship was to help each other in financial difficulties, that wisdom was whatever the majority assumed it to be, that enthusiasm was to give a speech, that courage was to risk being fined ten dollars, that cordiality was to say "May it do you good" after a meal, that piety was to go to communion once a year. This I saw, and I laughed.

Wisdom isn’t about accumulating more facts; it’s about understanding big truths in a deeper way. Year by year, with the support and insights of friends and partners and people who have gone before me, I see more clearly that the primary causes of poverty and illness are the cultural, financial, and legal restrictions that block what women can do—and think they can do—for themselves and their children.

There is no reason for worry about financial affairs. Every person who wills to do so may rise above his want, have all he needs, and become rich.

Emotional pain, physical damage, financial weakness are the reasons to stop for a while and not forever.

Contrary to popular wisdom, knowledge is not power—it’s potential power. Knowledge is not mastery. Execution is mastery. Execution will trump knowledge every day of the week.

Bullish or bearish are terms used by people who do not engage in practicing uncertainty, like the television commentators, or those who have no experience in handling risk. Alas, investors and businesses are not paid in probabilities; they are paid in dollars. Accordingly, it is not how likely an event is to happen that matters, it is how much is made when it happens that should be the consideration.

Normally, when you challenge the conventional wisdom—that the current economic and political system is the only possible one—the first reaction you are likely to get is a demand for a detailed architectural blueprint of how an alternative system would work, down to the nature of its financial instruments, energy supplies, and policies of sewer maintenance. Next, you are likely to be asked for a detailed program of how this system will be brought into existence. Historically, this is ridiculous. When has social change ever happened according to someone’s blueprint? It’s not as if a small circle of visionaries in Renaissance Florence conceived of something they called “capitalism,” figured out the details of how the stock exchange and factories would someday work, and then put in place a program to bring their visions into reality. In fact, the idea is so absurd we might well ask ourselves how it ever occurred to us to imagine this is how change happens to begin.

No knowledge comes to you late. It comes just at the time when you are ready for it.

Woman must be financially independent to be free in love

1. Career 2. Financial 3. Spiritual 4. Physical 5. Intellectual 6. Family 7. Social

How would you score yourself on a scale from one to ten, with one being in great shape, in the following areas?     • spiritually    ____     • emotionally ____     • physically   ____     • financially   ____     • relationally ____

Look to the Bible for the answer. Ancient Jewish wisdom says, “Delight in serving other people.” This is the best career advice you will ever get.

A certain way to have financial security in life is not enough savings, but enough ability.

Impatience is a particularly dangerous habit of the heart because everything worthwhile takes time. Good marriages take time. Spiritual maturity takes time. Financial stability takes time. Effective ministry takes time. Wisdom takes time. People who are not willing to take time cannot have any of the above.

I am billionaire bold bright omnipotent lively determined to go within to win opening my omnific eyes to realize wisdom innovation naturalizes… My cascading flow of financial love lavishly streams gold bars as I realize gold is intrinsic wealth as my intuitive imagination is my intrinsic innovations…

The idea that “it takes money to make money” is the thinking of financially unsophisticated people. It does not mean that they’re not intelligent. They have simply not learned the science of money making money. Money is only an idea. If you want more money, simply change your thinking. Every self-made person started small with an idea, and then turned it into something big. The same applies to investing. It takes only a few dollars to start and grow it into something big. I meet so many people who spend their lives chasing the big deal, or trying to amass a lot of money to get into a big deal, but to me that is foolish. Too often I have seen unsophisticated investors put their large nest egg into one deal and lose most of it rapidly. They may have been good workers, but they were not good investors. Education and wisdom about money are important. Start early. Buy a book. Go to a seminar. Practice. Start small. I turned $5,000 cash into a one-million-dollar asset producing $5,000 a month cash flow in less than six years. But I started learning as a kid. I encourage you to learn, because it’s not that hard. In fact, it’s pretty easy once you get the hang of it. I think I have made my message clear. It’s what is in your head that determines what is in your hands. Money is only an idea. There is a great book called Think and Grow Rich. The title is not Work Hard and Grow Rich. Learn to have money work hard for you, and your life will be easier and happier. Today, don’t play it safe. Play it smart.

The longer you work, the more money you’ll have for retirement. But the longer you work, the less time you’ll have to enjoy that retirement. — Wall Street Journal

A lot of people pray for power, house, financial breakthrough, wealth etc. But only few ask God for wisdom. There are so many great power pack man and women of God who lack wisdom.

Information without execution is poverty. Remember: we’re drowning in information, but we’re starving for wisdom.

Everything is in excess except money, thereof, it should be well managed.

Wisdom comes from experience. Experience is often a result of lack of wisdom.” —Terry Pratchett

[The wives of powerful noblemen] must be highly knowledgeable about government, and wise – in fact, far wiser than most other such women in power. The knowledge of a baroness must be so comprehensive that she can understand everything. Of her a philosopher might have said: "No one is wise who does not know some part of everything." Moreover, she must have the courage of a man. This means that she should not be brought up overmuch among women nor should she be indulged in extensive and feminine pampering. Why do I say that? If barons wish to be honoured as they deserve, they spend very little time in their manors and on their own lands. Going to war, attending their prince's court, and traveling are the three primary duties of such a lord. So the lady, his companion, must represent him at home during his absences. Although her husband is served by bailiffs, provosts, rent collectors, and land governors, she must govern them all. To do this according to her right she must conduct herself with such wisdom that she will be both feared and loved. As we have said before, the best possible fear comes from love. When wronged, her men must be able to turn to her for refuge. She must be so skilled and flexible that in each case she can respond suitably. Therefore, she must be knowledgeable in the mores of her locality and instructed in its usages, rights, and customs. She must be a good speaker, proud when pride is needed; circumspect with the scornful, surly, or rebellious; and charitably gentle and humble toward her good, obedient subjects. With the counsellors of her lord and with the advice of elder wise men, she ought to work directly with her people. No one should ever be able to say of her that she acts merely to have her own way. Again, she should have a man's heart. She must know the laws of arms and all things pertaining to warfare, ever prepared to command her men if there is need of it. She has to know both assault and defence tactics to insure that her fortresses are well defended, if she has any expectation of attack or believes she must initiate military action. Testing her men, she will discover their qualities of courage and determination before overly trusting them. She must know the number and strength of her men to gauge accurately her resources, so that she never will have to trust vain or feeble promises. Calculating what force she is capable of providing before her lord arrives with reinforcements, she also must know the financial resources she could call upon to sustain military action. She should avoid oppressing her men, since this is the surest way to incur their hatred. She can best cultivate their loyalty by speaking boldly and consistently to them, according to her council, not giving one reason today and another tomorrow. Speaking words of good courage to her men-at-arms as well as to her other retainers, she will urge them to loyalty and their best efforts.

I would tell my 14 year old self to never ever, ever put all of your money in one bank account. And love the ones who love you back. You're going to want to quit...DON'T! Oh, and get everything in writing.

When good things are so low that no one wants them, I buy them and lay them away in the safe; when owing to some new development, they go up and my shares are so needed that men will pay well for them, I am ready to sell.

Nowadays, our leaders prefer to search for the causes of crime and poverty in the actions or inaction of those at the very bottom of society. The obscene transfers of wealth over the past forty years from that bottom to a privileged few at the top--and from much of the Third World to financial elites in the West--are all excused as the natural evolution of the Market, when, in fact, they are products of unparalleled greed by those who shape and direct that Market.

He is sure to be more happy who has eaten well and slept well and has besides a little money in his jeans. Such men are rare to find for the simple reason that most men are incapable of appreciating the wisdom of such a simple truth. The worker thinks he would be better off if he were running the factory; the owner of the factory thinks the would be better off if he were a financier; and the financier knows he would be better off if he were clean out of the bloody mess and living the simple life.

Wisdom comes from experience. Experience is often a result of lack of wisdom. A

With the power of God, we can scale any wall.

We have a business plan, a life plan, and a financial plan, how about a contribution plan.

Making a product is just an activity, making a profit on a product is the achievement.

Don't compare the size of your roof with the size of the sky.

The strength of your personal financial resources is equivalent to the quality of your financial decision making.

Sometimes, it is not the money in your bank account that solves your problem, but the wisdom in your head.

If you think rightly, every problem is financial problem or eventually becomes one.

There are times where life is unfair to us; we may experience poor health, financial struggles, or emotional turmoil. Remain steadfast through the storm; the clouds shall part in time.

Curiosity, humility and compassion, these are the fundamental pillars of monkhood, if you have these in your life, then you are a monk, regardless of your financial status and relationship status.

If you need it, don’t lend it. It’s in most people’s nature to want to help, but if you genuinely need the money back, and you can’t afford to lose it, it’ll be in your best interest to NOT set yourself up.

The recurrent and sadly erroneous belief that effortless enrichment is an entitlement associated with what is thought to be exceptional financial perspicacity and wisdom is not something that yields to legislative remedy.

The worst form of discrimination is when others are accepted for the same things others are not accepted. This proves that everything is a strategy for interests based either on relationships or financial favor and profit.

The inability of Americans to value intellect is, to me, maddening. If someone possesses physical beauty they will not be cloistered or hidden in dark shadows. No, they are expected to be a source of pleasing scenery to others. We are not frightened in this country by beauty. We celebrate it, as we should. But what about beautiful brains, the kind that create amazing worlds out of nothing but thoughts, that can find a way to intricately bond elements of our lives that common wisdom tells us are inert? Why should anyone hide this intellect ever? No. Fuck boring financiers like Warren Buffett...there is no such thing as unnecessary beauty, physical or intellectual.

There’s an old proverb that money doesn’t change people, it just makes them more of who they are. Robert Caro has written that “power doesn’t corrupt, it reveals.” In some ways, prosperity—financial and personal—is the same way.

The received wisdom is that risk increases in the recession and falls in booms. In contrast, it may be more helpful to think of risk as increasing during upswings, as financial imbalances build up, and materializing in recessions.

God wants us to constantly be increasing, to be rising to new heights. He wants to increase you in His wisdom and help you to make better decisions. God wants to increase you financially, by giving you promotions, fresh ideas, and creativity.

In the 1960's, some old-timers on Wall Street-the men who remembered the trauma of the 1929 Crash and the Great Depression-gave me a warning: "When we fade from this business, something will be lost. That is the memory of 1929." Because of that personal recollection, they said, they acted with more caution, than they otherwise might. Collectively, their generation provided an in-built brake on the wildest form of speculation, an insurance policy against financial excess and consequent catastrophe. Their memories provided a practical form of long-term dependence in the financial markets. Is it any wonder that in 1987 when most of those men were gone and their wisdom forgotten, the market encountered its first crash in nearly sixty years? Or that, two decades later, we would see the biggest bull market, and the worst bear market, in generations? Yet standard financial theory holds that, in modeling markets, all that matters is today's news and the expectations of tomorrow's news.

Money is only a vehicle. It will take you where you want to go, but it can’t take the helm. You must learn to navigate yourself towards your own economic success and create your own path to becoming fiscally fit and financially savvy. In school we’re not taught about the wonderful world of finance. We’re taught to get good grades so we can get a good job. We all now realize that a job is the worst way to build wealth. Without the proper knowledge and wisdom our views about money remain distorted.

If you follow these simple truths, you will gain control over your financial future, and probably be able to accumulate millions and millions of dollars. These truths are not just about money, but about self discipline and the proof of love between yourself and your family. While I have gleaned these truths from the wisdom of the Jewish people, they will work for anyone in any setting regardless of religious background or income level. This is the oldest financial system in history and the only one that has survived the test of time.

This approach, built on the “wisdom of the crowd” concept, has been called “the crowd within.” The billionaire financier George Soros exemplifies it. A key part of his success, he has often said, is his mental habit of stepping back from himself so he can judge his own thinking and offer a different perspective—to himself.

You are always self-employed. You are always the president of your own personal services corporation, no matter where you might be working at the moment. When you see yourself as self-employed, you develop the entrepreneur mentality. The mentality of the highly independent, self-responsible, self-starting individual. Instead of waiting for things to happen, you make things happen. You see yourself as the boss of your own life. You see yourself as completely in charge of your physical health, your financial well-being, your career, your relationships, your home, your car, and every element of your existence. This is the mindset of the truly excellent person.

Value self-improvement above self-promotion. King Solomon of ancient Israel said, “Let instruction and knowledge mean more to you than silver or the finest gold. Wisdom is worth much more than precious jewels or anything else you desire.” Make your next career move based on how it will improve you personally rather than how it will enhance you financially.

Operationally, a business can be improved in only three ways: (1) increase the level of sales; (2) reduce costs as a percent of sales; (3) reduce assets as a percentage of sales. The other factors, (4) increase leverage or (5) lower the tax rate, are the financial drivers of business value. These are the only ways a business can make itself more valuable. Buffett

We depended on the indigenous of this land to teach us farming and harvesting skills that we largely lacked upon arrival. Indeed, had it not been for the wisdom of native North Americans, the first attempt at European colonization would have failed entirely. We were starving in droves, perishing in Jamestown because we had spent so much time looking for gold that we’d forgotten to plant crops that could sustain us through the harsh winters. Four hundred–plus years later that folly has been repeated, at least metaphorically, in an economy so focused on the chasing of wealth for wealth’s sake that it has failed to re-sow its crops, to invest in the future, to actually produce anything of value as it opts, instead, to chase financial fortunes and immediate riches.

Джон Маултон, один из самых успешных венчурных капиталистов в Лондоне. В своем последнем интервью газете Financial Times он назвал решительность, любопытство и бесчувственность тремя самыми ценными качествами характера. Трудно оспаривать ценность первых двух. Но бесчувственность? Маултон объясняет: «Самое лучшее в бесчувственности то, что она позволяет вам спать, когда другие не могут сомкнуть глаз»

Establishing and maintaining an unconventional investment profile requires acceptance of uncomfortably idiosyncratic portfolios, which frequently appear downright imprudent in the eyes of conventional wisdom. Unless institutions maintain contrarian positions through difficult times, the resulting damage of buying high and selling low imposes severe financial and reputational costs on the institution.

It is unwise to trust your own judgment. “He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who lives by wisdom will escape” (CJB, Proverbs 28:26). Many people have made bad financial investments because they based their decisions on their own judgment and pride. The Tanakh warns, “Pride goes before destruction, and arrogance before failure” (CJB, Proverbs 16:18). “Before being ruined, a person’s heart is proud” (CJB, Proverbs 18:12). The

income taxes are not the only taxes you pay in life. They are just the financial form. Everything we do has a toll attached to it. Waiting around is a tax on traveling. Rumors and gossip are the taxes that come from acquiring a public persona. Disagreements and occasional frustration are taxes placed on even the happiest of relationships. Theft is a tax on abundance and having things that other people want. Stress and problems are tariffs that come attached to success.

those carrying out the vision of the anointed. Families who wish to be independent financially and to make their own decisions about their lives are of little interest or use to those who are seeking to impose their superior wisdom and virtue on other people. Earning their own money makes these families unlikely candidates for third-party direction and wishing to retain what they have earned threatens to deprive the anointed of the money needed to distribute as largess to others who would thus become subject to their direction.

In 1945, Churchill admitted privately, ‘The biggest blunder of my life was the return to the Gold Standard.’131 The almost total unanimity of the financial experts in favour of it, when set alongside the views of the admirals about the convoy system, and those of the generals about how to fight both the Boer War and Great War, led Churchill seriously to doubt the wisdom of experts. His willingness to attack the views of the entire Establishment over appeasement might not have been so complete had he not seen its experts proved wrong time and again, and had he not, in the case of the Gold Standard, been forced to take ultimate responsibility.

When you shed the light, be sure to have a genuine heart, a truthful mind, and an honest soul. On 11th November 2018, I had a very inspired heart as I remember the "Sunday Express" from the airport to the City of Peace and Justice. Three years later, I look back with a grateful heart, vigilant mind, and wisdom filled soul as I had always chosen and prefer the paths toward the truth, and not the manipulations, deceptions, lies, libel and slander, calumny, calculated financial opportunism of political harridans, and targeted toxic, repetitive abusive ways of Signora Imbrogliona and her associate accomplice of Machiavellian manipulators. ~ Angelica Hopes, an excerpt from Onestopia, Book 3 of Stronzata Trilogy

A society of ONE! There is nothing wrong with being Human. What is wrong is how so many take for granted the gift of our being human and never learn that we are also to be HUMANE, hence our HUMANITY. We are born Man but it takes years of education, trial and error to be TRULY HUMAN. It takes an ability to see beyond yourself, and to be able to RELINQUISH YOUR EGO And that is something that far too many neglects to consider in their chase for life, liberty and the pursuit of PRODUCTS. Things can never make us happy and the accumulation of wealth only aids in separating us from our common cause to be ONE SOCIETY. ONE RACE. ONE MANKIND. Until we are equal and able to see eye to eye with our most base concerns of housing, Food, education and financial well-being solved, we shall never have a society of ONE!

Man is an irrational creature...for he seeks pleasure instead of abstinence, lies and deceit, instead of counsel and advice, violence and war, instead of withhold and peace, and easy wanton ignorance and gluttony, instead of hard sought after wisdom and moderation...man has grown indifferent to the sufferings of his fellow man and neighbor, for he only cares as to whether there is any monetary gain or financial reward, for his immediate and erstwhile assistance...man, in this current age, has completely lost the ability to engage in disciplined learning and fair and honest debate, for instead he would rather believe in lies and falsehoods, for it only confirms his prejudicial beliefs and irrational fears, all fed to him by the so-called, "fair and balanced" news media...he is a patriot for all the wrong reasons, for his patriotism is one of selfish jingoism, instead of an objective and unadulterated, "universal brotherhood", that seeks to find common ground and common solutions across the diplomatic table, instead of blind "sabre rattling" and childish and superficial flag waving...man's blind and puerile barbarism is what will ultimately do him in, in the very end, for the prophets of the present who tried to warn him as he stood at the edge of a moral and spiritual precipice, will be the ones who will wear a quiet and confirming smile, as man and his erstwhile shadow of ignorance, will be cast into the bottomless pit, of eternal damnation and doom...

His Burden Is Light Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 What heavy burden is weighing you down and causing a heaviness and weariness in your spirit? Is it the need to take care of an elderly parent? a seemingly impossible deadline at work? juggling overwhelming responsibilities of a job plus parenting a houseful of kids? the burden of chronic illness? a difficult relationship with someone you love? financial struggles? Whatever your “heavy burden” might be, Jesus invites you, just as he did the crowds he was teaching: Come to me. Give me the heavy load you’re carrying. And in exchange, I will give you rest. Whenever I read these verses from Matthew, I breathe a sigh of relief. Jesus knows the challenges and deadlines we face and the weariness of mind or body we feel. He understands the stress, tasks, and responsibilities that are weighing us down. As we lay all that concerns us before him, his purpose replaces our agenda, and his lightness and rest replace our burden. LORD, thank you for your offer to carry my burdens for me. I give them all to you and I gladly receive your rest! I place myself under your yoke to learn from you. Teach me your wisdom that is humble and pure, and help me to walk in the ways you set before me. Thank you for your mercy and love that invite me to live my life resting and trusting in you!   WHEN HE SAYS TO YOUR DISTURBED, DISTRACTED, RESTLESS SOUL OR MIND, “COME UNTO ME,” HE IS SAYING, COME OUT OF THE STRIFE AND DOUBT AND STRUGGLE OF WHAT IS AT THE MOMENT WHERE YOU STAND, INTO THAT WHICH WAS AND IS AND IS TO BE—THE ETERNAL, THE ESSENTIAL, THE ABSOLUTE. Phillips Brooks (1835-1893)    

Imagine that you are in control of your life. Now, the question is: Why do you have to imagine this? — from Look Ma, Life’s Easy (How Ordinary People Attain Extraordinary Success and Remarkable Prosperity)

At the same time that “self-made” entered the nation’s lexicon, so did the notion of abject failure. Once reserved to describe a discrete financial episode—“I made a failure,” a merchant would say after losing his shop—“failure” in antebellum America became a matter of identity, describing not an event but a person. As the historian Scott Sandage explains in Born Losers: A History of Failure in America, the phrase “I feel like a failure” comes to us so naturally today “that we forget it is a figure of speech: the language of business applied to the soul.” It became conventional wisdom in the early nineteenth century, Sandage explains, that people who failed had a problem native to their constitution. They weren’t just losers; they were “born losers.

I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think. That is very uncommon in American business. I read and think. So I do more reading and thinking, and make less impulse decisions than most people in business. I do it because I like this kind of life.

Howard [Stevenson] smiled impishly, as if he'd lured me into a trap on the chessboard—a trap he now sprung. “Ah, yes, all his social activities, his community engagement, his golf… On the surface, sure, his life looks well-rounded—three dimensional, if you will. But I’d be willing to bet a platterful of roast beef sandwiches that his life was in fact, ‘pseudo three-D’...[A]ll of if was—whether he knew it or not—part of his strategy for pursuing financial success, not distinct elements of a well-rounded life. An extension of one dimension that appears to be multifaceted—three dimensional—but really isn’t, Pseudo three-D.

Obama wasn’t wrong to criticize Bush’s policies, but he was wrong to put the blame on “shred[ding] regulations.” More important, Obama didn’t mention the Fed’s culpability in the crisis, nor the way government guarantees of banks—explicit and implicit—drove banks to engage in the massively risky behavior that created the crisis. Of course, Obama wasn’t in a position to critique government guarantees of banks—he was supporting Bush’s TARP. I pick on Obama only as one example of the conventional wisdom that blames all economic problems on insufficient regulation. Hundreds of commentators and politicians said the free market was the cause, and that government would be the solution. The problem with our banking system has not been too little regulation, but too much. To curb excessive risk taking, we do need more “adult supervision,” as Obama put it, but that supervision should come not from government officials, but from creditors and customers. So, the big-government types are correct that our financial system is dysfunctional, and that this dysfunction is the key destabilizing factor in our economy. But the solution isn’t more regulation, or even “smarter regulation.” To fix our financial sector and make our economy more stable, we need something far more drastic: an actual free market. Government needs to stop telling banks what to do and stop bailing them out when they fail. No regulator will ever be as effective as the threat of failure.

As one investor said in 2009 (regarding the effects of the Financial Crisis): ‘This is worse than divorce. I’ve lost half my net worth – and I still have my wife.’ ” -2010 letter

When I talked with David Swensen, Yale’s chief investment officer, he told me that “unconventional wisdom is the only way you can succeed.” Follow the herd, and you don’t have a chance.

In the new definition of success, building and looking after our financial capital is not enough. We need to do everything we can to protect and nurture our human capital.

THIS IS A book about financial crises. It is about the events that bring them about. It is about why governments and markets respond as they do. And it is about the consequences.     It is about the Great Recession of 2008–09 and the Great Depression of 1929–1933, the two great financial crises of our age. That there are parallels between these episodes is well known, not least in policy circles. Many commentators have noted how conventional wisdom about the earlier episode, what is referred to as “the lessons of the Great Depression,” shaped the response to the events of 2008–09.

Contrary to popular wisdom, you can’t pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. Whether you acknowledge it or not, you had help.

Thursday, January 29 God ’s Provision And my God will liberally supply (fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. PHILIPPIANS 4:19 AMP Sometimes the littlest words in our language pack a lot of meaning into them. All is one of those words. Three letters encompass the total extent of the whole. Everything is in the word all. In the letter to the Philippians, Paul is wrapping up a discussion of how God had used the church to provide for Paul’s need while he was in prison, even though many of them didn’t have much to give. Paul spoke out of experience when he told them God would supply all their financial needs because they gave sacrificially to help another person with a greater need. But God meeting their financial need isn’t all that is encompassed in the meaning Paul intended to convey when he chose this particular word. When Jesus taught this principle to His disciples, Luke recorded it in his Gospel: “Give, and you will receive. You will be given much. Pressed down, shaken together, and running over, it will spill into your lap. The way you give to others is the way God will give to you” (6:38 NCV). Jesus indicated that whatever people have to give, when they give it, they will receive as they have given. Emotional, spiritual, physical, material—whatever the need, God will supply it abundantly, “pressed down, shaken together, and running over.” Father, thank You for this promise that You will abundantly supply for every need I have through the riches of heaven in Christ Jesus.

It’s so easy to refuse to help others when you feel they were irresponsible. It’s tempting to pass judgment and think you’ve done better for yourself on your own. But don’t be so arrogant to think you got where you are by your own actions. Contrary to popular wisdom, you can’t pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. Whether you acknowledge it or not, you had help.

Posture and Social Status... During the 18th century in European and American society, aspects including station in life, status and dress could easily identify those of financial means. In fact, the garments of this era would hold the wearer in a position that would support and require proper posture. Women, and sometimes men, wore stays in order to shape the torso. Among the more privileged, even children wore stays since people believed these improved their posture and enhanced straight spinal growth. Certain movements were constrained by the cut and design of many garments, including details of the sleeve and back that would hold the person in proper posture.

If a 20% or 30% drop in the market value of your equity holdings (such as BPL) is going to produce emotional or financial distress, you should simply avoid common stock type investments. In the words of the poet—Harry Truman—“If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.” It is preferable, of course, to consider the problem before you enter the “kitchen.

Many school programs seem to offer either The Cultural Literacy Track or The Vocational Track. The Cultural Literacy programs are designed for the “smart kids” who are going to go on to ever-higher levels of both education and financial success. This track, with no pretense of being real world, includes classes on classics, foreign languages, and math theory (such as calculus). It is a curriculum based on “teach what has been taught.” The Vocational programs are for the “remedial kids” who are going to have only blue-collar futures if they are in high school (taking classes such as wood working) or inflexible paraprofessional paths if they are in college (such as degrees in physical therapy). This two-tier approach is an immoral sorting system with crippling consequences. Maybe worse, it also presents a false dichotomy. Instead, true wisdom comes from a synthesis of those two perspectives and more. The

Nowhere is historian George Santayana’s famous dictum, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” more applicable than in finance. Financial history provides us with invaluable wisdom about the nature of the capital markets and of returns on securities. Intelligent investors ignore this record at their peril. Risk

a Scottish proverb advises, “Be happy while you are alive because you are a long time dead.

Don’t Retire, Rewire

Because blitzscaling often requires spending significant amounts of capital in ways that traditional business wisdom would consider “wasteful,” implementing a financial strategy that supports this aggressive spending is a critical part of blitzscaling.

Facebook is too big and too powerful, and it is unconscionable for financial companies to aid it in monopolizing our economic infrastructure. I trust others will see the wisdom of avoiding this ill-conceived undertaking.

Over the years, gold has been considered the ultimate safe haven for many people, a staple of their Security Bucket, and conventional wisdom said it would only go up in value during uncertain times.

Conventional wisdom still holds that we abandoned Main Street to protect Wall Street—except on Wall Street, where conventional wisdom holds that President Obama is a radical socialist communist with hatred for moneymakers.

Don’t be discouraged by negative thoughts that may arise unbidden in your mind. You may feel like you should not say or do things that do not feel true in your heart, but such thoughts are destructive and violate biblical secrets of ancient Jewish wisdom.

The time to be with your heart is precisely the time when it feels most difficult, most out of reach and the last option.

Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them. Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her and she will watch over you. Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Proverbs 4:5-7a

When you do what you enjoy and you do it with love, it brings value to your life and other people’s lives. It will always be financially rewarded.

[M]any people say things like ‘investing in a love relationship’ as if they are talking about investing in stock market or in financial projects. That is a customer not a human or a citizen language. This type of language is filled with clues about how we have internalized ourselves as customers.

The first third is getting an education or training for a future career; the second third is focusing on building your career, perfecting skills, and rising to a senior position or a position of responsibility and leadership; and the final third involves receiving the benefits—financial, psychic, public recognition—from the level of achievement attained in the second of these phases.

There is a tendency for pessimism to infiltrate our financial plans, yet you don't have to work hard to seek money....Spirit has an effortless way.

A personality is dynamic. You will have many pulls and pushes, and impulses, driving you towards different elements in your life and forcing you to make choices during your existence on Earth. Some choices will be more related to your need to belong, others with your need for financial security and some others related to sexual impulses. But only the spiritual impulse can make you successful and happy. How to recognize it? Well, that is, quite simply, the impulse to make connections that last, changes that change you in return and as much as you should change in the right direction, and above all, it is found in the inner impulse towards the recognition of love. The consequences of refusing this spiritual dynamic are found in disappointment, loneliness, despair and a whole wasted lifetime that can't be recovered and opportunities that will never be seen again. As you grow older, and your timing on Earth gets shorter, only an increased sense of spiritual self can help you recover whatsoever seemed lost in a miraculous way.

A man is not normally alone, and in his rise or fall is tied to the destinies of his neighbors; so that it is exceptional for anyone to acquire unlimited power, or to fall by a succession of defeats into utter ruin. Moreover, everyone is normally in possession of such spiritual, physical and even financial resources that the probabilities of a shipwreck, of total inadequacy in the face of life, are relatively small. And one must take into account a definite cushioning effect exercised both by the law, and by the moral sense which constitutes a self-imposed law; for a country is considered the more civilized the more the wisdom and efficiency of its laws hinder a weak man from becoming too weak or a powerful one too powerful.

In every financial low of my life, I had never begged God and in every financial high of my life, I had never bribed God

Einstein is often said to have called compounding the eighth wonder of the world. But the narrowly financial application of compounding may be the least valuable and least interesting aspect of this phenomenon.

One of the key financial decisions I had made as an adult was that I would never live beyond my means or fall into debt.

From a societal point of view, debt is a vital economic lubricant. Used in moderation, it’s positively healthy. But for an individual investor, debt can be disastrous, making it even harder to stay in the game—both financially and emotionally—when the market turns against you.