Topic
Decision
Read by theme, not by timeline.
The Investor's Goal
Your goal as an investor should simply be to purchase, at a rational price, a part interest in an easily-understandable business whose earnings are…
Buy a piece of an understandable business at a rational price, when its earnings are almost certain to be materially…
Investing · Wealth · Decision · Modern investor letters
Learning and Thinking
子曰:「學而不思則罔,思而不學則殆。」
Learning without thought is confusion; thought without learning is peril.
Learning · Cognition · Decision · Chinese classics
Know the Enemy and Yourself
故曰:知彼知己,百戰不殆;不知彼而知己,一勝一負;不知彼不知己,每戰必殆。
Know the enemy and know yourself; the four combinations of knowledge and ignorance decide the outcome.
Decision · Leadership · History · Chinese classics
Things and Views
Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of things.
People are disturbed not by things, but by the views they take of them.
Cognition · Character · Decision · Philosophy · Western classics
Don't Mistake Your Vocation
The safest plan, and the one most sure of success for the young man starting in life, is to select the vocation which is most congenial to his tastes.
The safest path for a young person is to choose the vocation most congenial to their nature.
Wealth · Growth · Decision · Western classics
Know the Enemy and Yourself (Giles)
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.
Giles' translation of the classic formula: know both sides and a hundred battles hold no danger.
Decision · Leadership · History · Chinese classics (translation)
The Institutional Imperative
Institutional dynamics, not venality or stupidity, set businesses on these courses, which are too often misguided.
Businesses go astray less from greed or stupidity than from the inertia of institutional dynamics.
Decision · Cognition · Leadership · Human nature · Learning · Modern investor letters
A Wonderful Company at a Fair Price
It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.
A wonderful business at a fair price beats a fair business at a bargain price.
Investing · Wealth · Decision · Modern investor letters
It's All About the Long Term
We believe that a fundamental measure of our success will be the shareholder value we create over the long term.
Bezos defines success by long-term shareholder value, not short-term earnings.
Investing · Decision · Leadership · Growth · Modern investor letters
Bold Rather Than Timid
We will make bold rather than timid investment decisions where we see a sufficient probability of gaining market leadership advantages. Some of these…
Make bold bets when the odds of market leadership justify them; learn from both wins and losses.
Investing · Decision · Action · Growth · Learning · Modern investor letters
Day 2
Day 2 is stasis. Followed by irrelevance. Followed by excruciating, painful decline. Followed by death.
Day 2 is stasis, then irrelevance, then painful decline, then death.
Leadership · Decision · Growth · Cognition · Modern investor letters
Know Where You Are
We may never know where we're going, or when the tide will turn, but we had better have a good idea where we are.
Forecasting the future is unreliable; knowing the current position in the cycle is what you can control.
Investing · Cognition · Decision · Human nature · Modern investor letters
Pain + Reflection = Progress
Pain + Reflection = Progress. There is no avoiding pain, especially if you're going after ambitious goals.
Treat pain as a signal; reflect on it deliberately, and it becomes progress.
Cognition · Growth · Character · Decision · Learning · Modern investor letters
A Stock Is a Piece of a Company
买股票就是买公司。
Buying a stock is buying a piece of a company, not a ticker.
Investing · Wealth · Decision · Cognition · Modern investor letters
The Market Serves You
市场的存在是为了你来服务的,不是来指导你的。
The market exists to serve you, not to instruct you.
Investing · Cognition · Decision · Human nature · Modern investor letters
The Definition of Patience
耐心,就是正视现实,承认很多事情需要时间慢慢发展,不轻易消耗自身资源强推。
Patience means facing reality, accepting that many things take time, and not burning your resources to force them.
Growth · Character · Decision · Action · Modern investor letters
Know When to Stop
名與身孰親?身與貨孰多?得與亡孰病?是故甚愛必大費,多藏必厚亡,知足不辱,知止不殆,可以長久。
Fame and wealth cost life; knowing contentment and when to stop is how you last.
Wealth · Character · Philosophy · Decision · Chinese classics
First Make Yourself Invincible
孫子曰:昔之善戰者,先為不可勝,以待敵之可勝。不可勝在己,可勝在敵。故善戰者,能為不可勝,不能使敵之必可勝。故曰:勝可知,而不可為。
First make yourself unbeatable; then wait for the enemy to become beatable. Victory can be foreseen, not forced.
Decision · Leadership · History · Action · Chinese classics
Listen Widely, See Clearly
上問魏徵曰:「人主何為而明,何為而暗?」對曰:「兼聽則明,偏信則暗。」
Listen widely and you see clearly; trust only one voice and you go dark.
Leadership · Decision · History · Cognition · Chinese classics
The Butcher, the Brewer, and the Baker
It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.
Exchange works through mutual self-interest, not benevolence.
Wealth · Human nature · Decision · Philosophy · Western classics
Trust Thyself
Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.
Trust your own judgment; every heart responds to that iron string.
Character · Philosophy · Decision · Growth · Western classics
Caigentan, Entry 1
棲守道德者,寂寞一時;依附權勢者,淒涼萬古。故達人觀物外之物,思身後之身,寧受一時之寂寞,毋取萬古之淒涼。
Direct reading
Decision · Health · Cognition · Character · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 5
耳中常聞逆耳之言,心中常有拂心之事,纔是進德修行的砥石。若言言悅耳,事事快心,便把此生埋在鴆毒中矣。
Direct reading
Decision · Growth · Action · Health · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 7
醲肥辛甘非真味,真味只是淡; 神奇卓異非至人,至人只是常。
Direct reading
Decision · Health · Human nature · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 9
夜深人靜,獨坐觀心,始覺妄窮而真獨露,每於此中得大機趣;既覺真現而妄難逃,又於此中得大慚忸。
Direct reading
Health · Decision · Action · Philosophy · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 12
面前的田地要放得寬,使人無不平之歎; 身後的惠澤要流得長,使人有不匱之思。
Direct reading
Philosophy · Health · Cognition · Decision · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 13
徑路窄處,留一步與人行;滋味濃的,減三分讓人嗜。此是涉世一極安樂法。
Direct reading
Health · Decision · Action · Leadership · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 17
處世讓一步為高,退步即進步的張本; 待人寬一分是福,利人實利己的根基。
Direct reading
Health · Decision · Human nature · Wealth · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 18
蓋世功勞,當不得一個矜字; 彌天罪過,當不得一個悔字。
Direct reading
Health · Decision · Growth · Character · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 22
好動者,雲電風燈;嗜寂者,死灰槁木。須定雲止水中,有魚躍鳶飛氣象,纔是有道的心體。
Direct reading
Philosophy · Health · Decision · Action · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 25
矜高倨傲,無非客氣,降伏得客氣下,而後正氣伸; 情欲意識,盡屬妄心,消殺得妄心盡,而後真心現。
Direct reading
Health · Decision · Philosophy · Human nature · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 28
處世不必邀功,無過便是功; 與人不求感德,無怨便是德。
Direct reading
Health · Character · Decision · Growth · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 35
人情反復,世路崎嶇。 行不去處,須知退一步之法; 行得去處,務加讓三分之功。
Direct reading
Leadership · Decision · Human nature · Cognition · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 38
降魔者,先降自心,心伏,則群魔退聽; 馭橫者,先馭此氣,氣平,則外橫不侵。
Direct reading
Health · Decision · Philosophy · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 39
教弟子,如養閨女,最要嚴出入,謹交遊。若一接近匪人,是清淨田中,下一不淨種子,便終身難植嘉禾矣。
Direct reading
Health · Decision · Action · Character · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 40
慾路上事,毋樂其便而姑為染指,一染指便深入萬仞; 理路上事,無憚其難而稍為退步,一退步便遠隔千山。
Direct reading
Action · Philosophy · Health · Decision · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 44
立身不高一步立,如塵裏振衣,泥中濯足,如何超達; 處世不退一步處,如飛蛾投燭,羝羊觸藩,如何安樂。
Direct reading
Health · Decision · Growth · History · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 46
人人有個大慈悲,維摩屠劊無二心也; 處處有種真趣味,金屋茅簷非兩地也。 只是慾蔽情封,當面錯過,便咫尺千里矣。
Direct reading
Decision · Philosophy · Human nature · Health · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 47
進德修道,要個木石的念頭,若一有欣羨,便趨慾境; 濟世經邦,要段雲水的趣味,若一有貪著,便墮危機。
Direct reading
Health · Growth · Philosophy · Decision · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 48
吉人無論作用安詳,即夢寐神魂,無非和氣; 凶人無論行事狠戾,即聲音笑貌,渾是殺機。
Direct reading
Health · Decision · Action · Philosophy · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 49
肝受病,則目不能視;腎受病,則耳不能聽;病受於人所不見,必發於人所共見。故君子欲無得罪於昭昭,先無得罪於冥冥。
Direct reading
Health · Human nature · Cognition · Decision · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 54
人之際遇,有齊有不齊,而能使己獨齊乎? 己之情理,有順有不順,而能使人皆順乎? 以此相觀對治,亦是一方便法門。
Direct reading
Philosophy · Leadership · Human nature · Decision · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 59
苦心中,常得悅心之趣; 得意時,須防失意之悲。
Direct reading
Decision · Health · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 60
富貴名譽,自道德來者,如山林中花,自是舒餘繁衍;自功業來者,如盆檻中花,便有遷徙廢興;若以權力得者,如瓶鉢中花,其根不值,其萎可立而待矣。
Direct reading
Leadership · Decision · Growth · Philosophy · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 68
為惡而畏人知,惡中猶有善路; 為善而急人知,善處即是惡根。
Direct reading
Health · Human nature · Cognition · Decision · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 69
天之機緘不測。抑而伸,伸而抑,皆是播弄英雄,顛倒豪傑處。君子只是逆來順受,居安思危,天亦無所施其技倆矣。
Direct reading
Philosophy · Health · Cognition · Decision · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 78
泛駕之馬可就馳驅,躍冶之金終歸型範。只一優游不振,便終身無個進步。白沙云:「為人多病未足羞,一生無病是吾憂。」真確論也。
Direct reading
Health · Decision · Action · Growth · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 80
耳目聞見為外賊,情欲意識為內賊。只是主人翁惺惺不昧,獨坐中堂,賊便化為家人矣。
Direct reading
Cognition · Human nature · Health · Decision · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 81
圖未就之功,不如保已成之業; 悔既往之失,不如防將來之非。
Direct reading
Leadership · Decision · Growth · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 84
清能有容,仁能善斷;明不傷察,直不過矯。是謂蜜餞不甜,海味不鹹,纔是懿德。
Direct reading
Health · Character · Cognition · Decision · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 85
貧家淨掃地,貧女淨梳頭,景花雖不豔麗,氣度自是風雅。士君子一當窮愁寥落,奈何輒自廢弛哉。
Direct reading
Health · Decision · Character · Philosophy · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 87
念頭起處,纔覺向慾路上去,便挽從理路上來。一起便覺,一覺便轉,此是轉禍為福,起死回生的關頭,切莫輕易放過。
Direct reading
Health · Decision · Action · Character · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 88
靜中念慮澄澈,見心之真體; 閒中氣象從容,識心之真機; 淡中意趣沖夷,得心之真味。 觀心證道,無如此三者。
Direct reading
Philosophy · Health · Cognition · Decision · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 89
靜中靜非真靜,動處靜得來,纔是性天之真境; 樂纔樂非真樂,苦中樂得來,纔見心體之真機。
Direct reading
Health · Decision · Philosophy · Cognition · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 90
捨己毋處其疑,處其疑,即所舍之志多愧矣; 施人無責其報,責其報,並所施之心俱非矣。
Direct reading
Decision · Health · Growth · Philosophy · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 92
貞士無心徼福,天即就無心處牖其衷; 憸人著意避禍,天即就著意中奪其魄。 可見天之機權最神,人之智巧何益。
Direct reading
Health · Cognition · Philosophy · Decision · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 93
聲妓晚歲從良,一世之烟花無礙; 貞婦白頭失守,半生之消苦俱非。 語云:「看人只看後半截。」真名言也。
Direct reading
Health · Decision · Philosophy · History · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 94
平民肯種德施惠,便是無位的公相; 士夫徒貪權市寵,竟成有爵的乞人。
Direct reading
Health · Decision · Philosophy · Human nature · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 95
問祖宗之德澤,吾身所享者是,當念其積累之難; 問子孫之福祉,吾身所貽者是,要思其傾覆之易。
Direct reading
Cognition · Learning · Health · Decision · Chinese classics
Caigentan, Entry 97
家人有過,不宜暴怒,不宜輕棄。此事難言,借他事隱諷之;今日不悟,俟來日再警之。如春風解凍,如和氣消冰,纔是家庭的型範。
Direct reading
Health · Philosophy · Human nature · Decision · Chinese classics