Day 261 · Tue, Jul 6, 2027 · Five editions

Tue, Jul 6, 2027

Five emails a day: 00:00 Night / 07:00 Morning / 12:00 Noon / 17:00 Evening / 21:00 Figures

00:00 Night · Health · Chinese classics

孟子:Mencius, 離婁下 16

孟子《孟子》· 離婁下·16 · Health · Philosophy · Human nature

孟子曰:「以善服人者,未有能服人者也。以善養人,然後能服天下。天下不心服而王者,未之有也。」

Source: https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%AD%9F%E5%AD%90/%E9%9B%A2%E5%A9%81%E4%B8%8B
離婁下·16

This is a direct reading: the original and source are kept; commentary will be added later.

Today's question

What does this passage say about your body or mood today?

07:00 Morning · Health · Chinese classics

孔子及其弟子:Analects 4.18

孔子及其弟子《論語》· 里仁第四·四之十八 · Health · Cognition · Growth · Action

子曰:「事父母幾諫;見志不從,又敬而不違,勞而不怨。」

Source: https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E8%AB%96%E8%AA%9E/%E9%87%8C%E4%BB%81%E7%AC%AC%E5%9B%9B
里仁第四·四之十八

This is a direct reading: the original and source are kept; commentary will be added later.

Today's question

What does this passage say about your body or mood today?

12:00 Noon · Investing · Chinese classics

管仲(舊題):Guanzi, 第80篇輕重甲, Entry 6

管仲(舊題)《管子》· 第80篇輕重甲 · Investing · Cognition · Decision · Action

桓公曰:「弓弩多匡䡔者,而重籍於民,奉繕工而使弓弩多匡䡔者,其故何也?」管子對曰:「鵝鶩之舍近,鵾雞鵠䳈之通遠。鵠鵾之所在,君請式璧而聘之。」桓公曰:「諾。」行事期年,而上無闕者,前無趨人。三月解𠣗,弓弩無匡䡔者。召管子而問曰:「此何故也?」管子對曰:「鵠鵾之所在,君式璧而聘之。菹澤之民聞之,越平而射遠,非十鈞之弩不能中鵾雞鵠䳈。彼十鈞之弩,不得𩇹擏不能自正。故三月解𠣗,而弓弩無匡䡔者。此何故也?以其家習其所也。」

Source: https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E7%AE%A1%E5%AD%90/%E7%AC%AC80%E7%AF%87%E8%BC%95%E9%87%8D%E7%94%B2
第80篇輕重甲·第6则

This is a direct reading: the original and source are kept; commentary will be added later.

Today's question

Does this passage change one judgment about money or risk today?

17:00 Evening · Career · Chinese classics

司馬光:Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 194, Entry 27

司馬光《資治通鑑》· 卷194·太宗文武大聖大廣孝皇帝上之下貞觀六年(壬辰,公元六三二年) · Leadership · Decision · Action · Character

上謂魏徵曰:「為官擇人,不可造次。用一君子,則君子皆至;用一小人,則小人競進矣。」對曰:「然。天下未定,則專取其才,不考其行;喪亂既平,則非才行兼備不可用也。」

Source: https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E8%B3%87%E6%B2%BB%E9%80%9A%E9%91%91/%E5%8D%B7194
卷194·太宗文武大聖大廣孝皇帝上之下貞觀六年(壬辰,公元六三二年)·第27则

This is a direct reading: the original and source are kept; commentary will be added later.

Today's question

What does this passage say about how you work today?

21:00 Figures · Investing · Modern investor letters

Charlie Munger:Competition in the Airline Business

Charlie Munger《A Lesson on Elementary, Worldly Wisdom As It Relates To Investment Management & Business》· Microeconomics: commodity businesses and competition · Investing · Growth · Human nature

Competition was so intense that, once it was unleashed by deregulation, it ravaged shareholder wealth in the airline business.

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20140625062802/http://ycombinator.com/munger.html
Archived transcript, paragraph 108 (beginning “If it's a pure commodity like airline seats”)

Reading

Intense competition in a commodity industry can destroy shareholder wealth.

Context

Munger used airlines to illustrate the trap of a commodity business: the service is valuable, but intense competition can transfer that value to customers while shareholders earn poor or negative returns. Deregulation merely unleashed price competition that had long been latent. Investors must distinguish a good service from a good business.

Today's question

Is your industry creating brand premium—or turning the product into a price-driven commodity?