A friend emailed me this article in Time Magazine about what the Talmud would advise about the financial crisis. I continue to believe that the way out of this crisis is to focus on a shared trust and faith. Virtue and responsibility are to in order and a basic morality. All of the frauds, deceitful […]
READ MOREWhat happens when money and business define you?
The economic crisis descending upon us is having a profound impact on many people’s lives. One of the most troubling things to witness is the rise in suicides, especially high profile suicides. The past two days news of US property mogul, Sheldon Good, and the German business magnate, Adolph Merckle, have graced the front pages […]
READ MOREPondering Madoff
David Kotok is the chief investment adviser and writes a market commentary for Cumberland Advisors. I love anything that quotes the Mishnah: “For this reason, man [i.e. the first human being] was created alone to teach that whoever destroys a single life is as though he had destroyed an entire universe, and whoever saves a […]
READ MORESeparation
I am reading a wonderful new biography about William Wilberforce, the great British anti-slave trade campaigner. As part of the book, the author, William Hague, describes the slave trade, how slaves were kidnapped and transported in the most brutal conditions with no regard to health or humanity. One of the more disgusting stories describes how […]
READ MOREAdversity and Underprivilege
There is a fascinating article in the New Yorker by Malcolm Gladwell on how outsiders and the underprivileged sometimes have an an advantage. He profiles Sidney Weinberg, the guy who transformed Goldman Sachs into a powerhouse, and how he came from a very poor upbringing. Its a really good read. Malcolm Gladwell on adversity
READ MOREJewish Perfection
Perfection is definitely not a Jewish thought or attribute. Consider the patriarchs of Judaism such as Noah who gets drunk, Jacob who steals his brother’s birthright by misleading his father Isaac, and even Moses, the greatest of all Jews, speaks with a lisp and disobeys God. And we could have a field day talking about […]
READ MOREVoyage
This is one of the best things I’ve ever read: To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen, who play with their boats at sea–“cruising”, it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, […]
READ MOREMorris Smith is quite an inspiration
This is a fantastic article about Morris Smith leaving his job as the head of Fidelity Magellan and pursuing a life of meaning and study. I think you can learn a lot from his example. Morris Smith from Fidelity
READ MORE“What do you do for a living?”
I had a conversation with one of my best friends this weekend and we talked about many things. My friend was commenting on how much I had changed and asked me about some of the steps I had taken to effect that change. And we touched on a very important point that has been of […]
READ MOREMemory Training
Interesting article from the NY Times about how you can improve your intelligence through memory training. The study cited in the article completely overturns the consensus that your intelligence cannot be changed. Here is a snippet: The results, published Monday in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, were striking. Although the control groups […]
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