The Wealth of Actions

 “The vigorous man industriously striving for the improvement of his condition acts neither more nor less than the lethargic man who sluggishly takes things as they come.  For to do nothing and to be idle are also action, they too determine the course of events.  Wherever the conditions for human interference are present, man acts no matter whether he interferes or refrains from interfering.  He who endures what he could change acts no less than he who interferes in order to attain another result.  A man who abstains from influencing the operation of physiological and instinctive factors which he could influence also acts.  Action is not only doing but no less omitting to do what possibly could be done. We may say that action is the manifestation of a man’s will.  But this would not add to our knowledge.  For the term will means nothing else than man’s faculty to choose between different states of affairs, to prefer one, to set aside the other, an...

Without a strong economy, there can be no strong defence.  Without a strong defence, there will be no Singapore.  It will become a satellite cowed and intimidated by its neighbours.  To maintain a strong economy and a strong defence all on a narrow base of a small island with over four million people, the government must be led by the ablest, most dedicated and toughest.  The task will become more complex as a more educated and confident electorate believe that Singapore has created a sturdy base and need not be as vulnerable as before.  What will never change is that only the best can lead and secure such a Singapore. We need a sturdy, strong and capable SAF, not only to defend Singapore but return blow for blow when necessary.  If we do not have this strong SAF, we are vulnerable to all kinds of pressure, from both Malaysia and Indonesia.  To have such an SAF, we need a robust economy that is not easily put off-course by external shocks.  The ec...

 The priority is that all of us continue to zealously guard Berkshire's reputation. We can't be perfect but we can try to be. As i've said in these memos for more than 25 years: "We can afford to lose money - even a lot of money. But we can't afford to lose reputation - even a shred of reputation." We must continue to measure every act against not only what is legal but also what we would be happy to have written about on the front page of a national newspaper in an article written by an unfriendly but intelligent reporter. Sometimes your associates will say "Everybody else is doing it." It is totally unacceptable when evaluating a moral decision. Whenever somebody offers that phrase as a rationale, in effect they are saying that they can't come up with a *good* reason. If anyone gives this explanation, tell them to try using it with a reporter or a judge and see how far it gets them.     If you see anything whose propriety or legality causes you...

From the beginning of 1928 the element of unreality, of fantasy indeed, began to grow. As Bagehot put it, 'All people are most credulous when they are most happy.' The number of shares changing hands, a record of 567,990,875 in 1927, went to 920,550,032. Two new and sinister elements emerged: a vast increase in margin-trading and a rash of hastily cobbled-together investment trusts. Traditionally, stocks were valued at about ten times earnings. With high margin-trading, earnings on shares, only 1 or 2 percent, were far less than the 8-12 percent interest on loans used to buy them. This meant that any profits were in capital gains alone. Thus Radio Corporation of America, which had never paid a dividend at all, went form 85 to 420 points in 1928. By 1929 some stocks were selling at fifty times earnings. As one expert put it, the market was 'discounting not merely the future but the hereafter'. A market-boom based on capital gains is merely a form of pyramid-selling. The ...

Once upon a time there was a crow and his wife who had  built a nest in a banyan tree. A big snake crawled into the hollow trunk and ate up the chicks as they were hatched. The crow did not want to move, since he loved the tree dearly. So he went to his friend the jackal for advice. A plan of action was devised. The crow and his wife flew about in implementation. As the wife approached a pond, she saw the women of the king's court bathing, with pearls, necklaces, gems, garments, and a golden chain laying on the shore. The crow-hen siezed the golden chain in her beak and flew towards the banyan tree with the eunuchs in pursuit. When she reached the tree, she dropped the chain into the hole. As the kings' men climbed the tree for the chain, they saw the swelling hood of the cobra. So they killed the snake with their clubs, retrieved the golden chain, and went back to the pond. And the crow and his wife lived happily ever after. > A TALE FROM PANCHATANTRA, FOURTH CENTURY, RETOL...

An old song from the vaults of the esteemed Benjamin Franklin.   ___________________________________________ The Antediluvians Were All Very Sober The Antediluvians were all very sober For they had no Wine, and they brewed no October; All wicked, bad Livers, on Mischief still thinkinga For there can't be good Living where there is not good drinking, Derry Down 'Twas honest old Noah first planted the Vine, And mended his Morals by drinking its Wine; He justly the drinking of Water decried; For he knew that all Mankind, by drinking it, died. Derry Down From this Piece of History's plainly we find That Water's good neither for Body or Mind; That Virtue and Safety in Wine-bibbing's found While all that drink Water deserved to be drowned. Derry down So For Safety and Honesty put the Glass round. __________________________________________     Antediluvians:  Existing before the flood (the Noachian deluge) recorded in Genesis; relating to the times or events before the Noa...