The Matsushita Approach: A philosophy of business and life that treats centuries as the relevant time horizon, workers as permanent family, and daily philosophical practice as the only path to enduring success—forged in the experience of starting from the bottom and never forgetting it. Source: Wikimedia Commons In 1899, a nine-year-old boy named Matsushita Kōnosuke … Read more
Earned Moral Authority is the principle that the right to lead or rebuild after a period of trial is contingent upon having shared in the suffering of those one seeks to guide, not on surviving from a safe distance. Source: Wikimedia Commons In June 1939, Dietrich Bonhoeffer boarded a ship for New York. He had … Read more
Sustine et abstine 是一句拉丁文斯多葛–斯宾诺莎主义格言，意为“忍耐和克制”，指通过自我约束与独立劳动来维系人格尊严与精神自主。 母亲六十二岁那年，她于凌晨三点三十九分，自老家搭乘无座火车，赴外地务工。 无座，即自上至下车，全程皆须站立。凌晨三点半的车次，便须凌晨两点起身准备。时年六十二岁。 其后我问她，为何不购卧铺票。她未直接回答，只轻声说：「那要多花不少钱。」 一、无需解释的事 母亲这一辈人，有一种特质：她们从不解释自身作为的缘由，只是去做。 她六十四岁时，仍在山上采摘茶叶。并非出于喜好户外，亦非为“亲近自然”，仅因那是她换取收入的途径。 每月，她收到我寄去的一千元生活费。中国农村的养老金，大抵不过百元。此一千元，是她主要的生活来源之一。但她从未因此便不再上山。 她不依赖任何人。在尚能活动的每一日，她都劳作不辍。 二、Sustine et abstine 斯宾诺莎研磨镜片，保全思想之独立；我的母亲采摘茶叶，保全人格之尊严。 二者形貌迥异，精神却同出一源：以自身劳动奉养己身，不亏欠任何人。 斯宾诺莎的信念，源自哲学传统；我的母亲，则得之于生活本身——她不曾读过一本哲学书，却比许多读过的人，活得更贴近哲学的内核。 芒格有一句话常被引用： The iron rule of nature is: you get what you reward for. 我母亲从不引用任何人，但她的一生恰是此铁律的注脚：你奖赏什么，便得到什么。她奖赏勤劳，遂得自立；她奖赏节俭，遂得不求人的自在；她奖赏沉默，遂可不受他人评价的纷扰。 三、欲寻借口之时 当生活感到艰辛——债务重压、时间匮乏、精力不足——我偶或忆起那趟凌晨三点半的无座火车。 我拥有学历、语言能力、互联网与AI；而我母亲，似乎一无所有。 她从无怨言。 芒格将自怜称作“一种近乎偏执的心理状态”： Self-pity gets fairly close to paranoia, and paranoia is one of the very hardest things to reverse. 每当我意图寻找借口，母亲便是那剂解药。并非因她会说什么——她什么都不会说。只因其存在本身，便构成一个论证：若一位六十二岁的农村妇人，能在凌晨三点半，站立于一列无座火车前去劳作，而不置一词——则我又何资格抱怨？ … Read more
John Templeton’s investment philosophy centers on buying value during times of maximum pessimism when fear drives prices below intrinsic worth. In 1939, with Europe sliding toward war and financial markets in a state of generalised dread, a twenty-six-year-old investment analyst named John Templeton called his broker and placed an unusual order. He wanted to buy … Read more
Emotional self-governance: The practice of strategically managing anger, resentment, and recrimination to preserve cognitive resources and sustain long-term efforts toward goals, as taught by Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s mother Celia Bader. Source: Wikimedia Commons Celia Amster arrived in the United States from Odessa at four years old, part of the great wave of Jewish emigration from … Read more
Sustine et abstine (bear and forbear) is a Stoic principle of enduring what must be endured and abstaining from what must be abstained, emphasizing acceptance of what is beyond one’s control and consistent right action. Source: Wikimedia Commons On the evening of 22 September 1796, in a small house in London, Mary Lamb — twenty-one … Read more
Benjamin Franklin’s character journaling system is a daily practice of marking transgressions against thirteen personal virtues with a weekly focus rotation, turning self-improvement into a measurable, persistent habit. Source: Wikimedia Commons There is a small notebook in American history that deserves more attention than it receives. Benjamin Franklin — printer, scientist, diplomat, polymath — kept … Read more
Financial independence as an epistemic prerequisite is the condition where one’s livelihood does not depend on reaching predetermined conclusions, allowing thought to remain uncorrupted by patronage, career risk, or social pressure. Source: Wikimedia Commons Baruch Spinoza was offered a university professorship in Heidelberg in 1673. The offer came with a remarkable guarantee: he would be … Read more
Impartial Spectator: Adam Smith’s concept of an imagined neutral observer used to evaluate one’s own conduct from a fair and disinterested perspective. Source: Wikimedia Commons Almost everyone who invokes Adam Smith has read The Wealth of Nations — or at least the chapters about the invisible hand and the division of labor. Almost no one … Read more
Stoic Investing: The practice of applying the Stoic dichotomy of control—focusing solely on one’s analytical process, temperament, and character while releasing attachment to external market outcomes—to achieve long-term investment discipline and peace of mind. Source: Wikimedia Commons Marcus Aurelius never managed a portfolio. He managed an empire — and wrote his most important thoughts not … Read more