Majicman Notes

Berkshire’s 1972 purchase of See’s Candies was a crucial deal. When See’s raised prices without affecting the volume of sales, it changed Munger’s approach to investing. He learned that paying full price for a beloved… Read more

Artists have an interest in … so-called inspirations; as if the idea of a work of art, of poetry, the fundamental thought of a philosophy shines down like a merciful light from heaven. In truth,… Read more

As well as being an author of con­sum­mate craft she was a writer of joy. “Charm is a word I have never used,” her friend, the writer Vivian Gor­nick, said over email. “But a few… Read more

If you are allowed one wish for your child, seriously consider wishing him or her optimism. Optimists are normally cheerful and happy, and therefore popular; they are resilient in adapting to failures and hardships, their… Read more

Mastery is the best goal because the rich can’t buy it, the impatient can’t rush it, the privileged can’t inherit it, and nobody can steal it. You can only earn it through hard work. Mastery… Read more

The Americans have all a lively faith in the perfectibility of man, they judge that the diffusion of knowledge must necessarily be advantageous, and the consequences of ignorance fatal; they all consider society as a… Read more

Aldous Huxley on approaching life with lightness, even in the face of difficulty: It’s dark because you are trying too hard. Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly. Yes, feel lightly even though you’re… Read more

The novel,  The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, asks you to heed a warn­ing. Where are you left mor­ally if you become the same as your enemy? “I think this is a grown-up… Read more

Ideas are like fish. If you want to catch little fish, you can stay in the shallow water. But if you want to catch the big fish, you’ve got to go deeper. Down deep, the fish are… Read more

Samurai called their principles “virtues” rather than “values”; virtues are what you do, while values are merely what you believe. Ben Horowitz  What you do is who you are  Read more