Ideas
If—
If you can keep your head when all about you, are losing theirs and blaming it on you, if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too; if you can wait and not be tired by waiting, or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, or being hated, don’t give way to hating… Read More
Life Expectancy vs. Health Expenditure
How to Do What You Love
To do something well you have to like it. That idea is not exactly novel. We’ve got it down to four words: “Do what you love.” But it’s not enough just to tell people that. Doing what you love is complicated. The very idea is foreign to what most of us learn as kids. When I was a kid, it seemed as if work and fun were opposites by definition… Read More
“There Are No Shortcuts!”: QUITTERS, CAMPERS, & CLIMBERS
Three individuals were standing at the base of a steep hill. Having just traveled a great distance, all three were extremely tired, but knew that they must ascend the hill if they were to reach their goal destination. “That’s a pretty steep hill we have to climb. I don’t know if I can make it… Read More
Advice From Life’s Graying Edge on Finishing With No Regrets
At 17, I wrote a speech titled, “When You Come to the End of Your Days, Will You Be Able to Write Your Own Epitaph?” It reflected the approach to life I adopted after my mother’s untimely death from cancer at age 49… Read More
The Road to Self Renewal
This is a speech by John Gardner delivered in 1990 to McKinsey & Company: I’m going to talk about “Self-Renewal.” One of your most fundamental tasks is the renewal of the organizations you serve, and that usually includes persuading the top officers to accomplish a certain amount of self-renewal. But to help you think about others … Read More
How Will You Measure Your Life?
Written by Clayton M. Christensen Before I published The Innovator’s Dilemma, I got a call from Andrew Grove, then the chairman of Intel. He had read one of my early papers about disruptive technology, and he asked if I could talk to his direct reports and explain my research and what it implied for Intel. … Read More
It’s Time To Build
Written by Marc Andreessen Every Western institution was unprepared for the coronavirus pandemic, despite many prior warnings. This monumental failure of institutional effectiveness will reverberate for the rest of the decade, but it’s not too early to ask why, and what we need to do about it. Many of us would like to pin the … Read More
We Are What We Choose
Remarks by Jeff Bezos, as delivered to the Princeton University Class of 2010 Baccalaureate May 30, 2010 As a kid, I spent my summers with my grandparents on their ranch in Texas. I helped fix windmills, vaccinate cattle, and do other chores. We also watched soap operas every afternoon, especially “Days of our Lives.” My … Read More
When Great Trees Fall
Written by Maya Angelou When great trees fall, rocks on distant hills shudder, lions hunker down in tall grasses, and even elephants lumber after safety. When great trees fall in forests, small things recoil into silence, their senses eroded beyond fear. When great souls die, the air around us becomes light, rare, sterile. We breathe, … Read More
Running A Successful Company: Ten Rules That Worked for Me
Running A Successful Company: Ten Rules That Worked for Me From Sam Walton, Made in America, June 1992 This isn’t the first time that I’ve been asked to come up with a list of rules for success, but it is the first time I’ve actually sat down and done it. I’m glad I did because … Read More
Lou Holtz’s 2015 Commencement Address at the Franciscan University of Steubenville
Imagining a World Without Growth
Written by Eduardo Porter, The New York Times Could the world order survive without growing? It’s hard to imagine now, but humanity made do with little or no economic growth for thousands of years. In Byzantium and Egypt, income per capita at the end of the first millennium was lower than at the dawn of the Christian … Read More
Price Changes
Stay in the Game
Written by Drew Dickson, Albert Bridge Capital This is going to be an uncharacteristic departure for me. This story is deeply personal, for our family, and for our oldest son in particular. But it is a story he’s letting me tell, because it is a story he wants people to hear. My son Max was … Read More
The Moral Peril of Meritocracy
Written by David Brooks Our individualistic culture inflames the ego and numbs the spirit. Failure teaches us who we are. Many of the people I admire lead lives that have a two-mountain shape. They got out of school, began their career, started a family and identified the mountain they thought they were meant to climb … Read More
The University of Georgia’s Corsair Society
Written by Lori Johnston (ABJ ’95 UGA) and Jeremy Bales (AB, ABJ ’01 UGA) and published in the December 2014 issue of GEORGIA MAGAZINE The Statue of Liberty looms in the distance through the floor-to-ceiling windows on the 27th floor of Citi’s Greenwich Street offices in the Tribeca neighborhood of Lower Manhattan. Bethany McCain (AB, … Read More
Hard Choices: The Importance of Thoughtful Deliberation – And its Implications for the Future of Capitalism
A speech written and delivered by Seth Klarman before Harvard Business School students and alumni at the opening of Klarman Hall I suspect there’s a great deal that most of us can agree on about capitalism. The free enterprise system, of which HBS is an essential part, has lifted billions of people around the world out of … Read More
Perspective on US Fiscal Position
America’s deteriorating public credit is the cold-button issue of the 2018 midterms. With rare bipartisanship, Democrats and Republicans compete to pretend that the country isn’t going broke. In 1992, the third-party presidential candidate Ross Perot likened the widening gap between federal receipts and federal spending to “the crazy aunt tucked away in the room upstairs nobody talks about.”… Read More
Lewis Grizzard: Great moments in a would-be father’s life
To my son, if I ever have one: Kid, I am writing this on Sept. 3, 1984. I have just returned from Athens, where I spent Saturday watching the University of Georgia, your old dad’s alma mater, play football against Clemson. While the events of the day were still fresh on my mind, I wanted … Read More
Graduate Speaker Pete Davis at the Harvard University Commencement 2018
This is the 2018 Harvard University Commencement Address by Pete Davis, a Candidate for Juris Doctor, on the importance of picking a path for your career, life, relationships or ethics, and sticking to that path to see it through… Watch Video
Winning the Battle In Space by Dr. Michael Griffin
Written by Michael Griffin In April 2011, an Ariane 5 rocket hurled the “New Dawn” communications satellite into geostationary Earth orbit some 36,000 kilometers above the Earth. The $250 million satellite successfully released a set of pins that had held its primary antenna in a folded configuration during launch; however, the antenna did not unfold. Hobbled … Read More
Remember Me: Jocko Willink on Memorial Day 2018
Jocko Willink is an acclaimed podcaster. This video uploaded for Memorial Day of 2018 reminds us all to remember those who have bravely and selflessly served our country… Watch Video
Real Vision Interview with Kiril Sokoloff
This video features an interview with Kiril Sokoloff, an investor who closely tracks advances in technology and both their current and future effects on world markets… Watch Video
William Deresiewicz’s 2009 Solitude and Leadership Address at West Point
The lecture below was delivered to the plebe class at the United States Military Academy at West Point in October 2009.My title must seem like a contradiction. What can solitude have to do with leadership? Solitude means being alone, and leadership necessitates the presence of others—the people you’re leading. When we think about leadership in … Read More
Memos from Howard Marks of Oaktree Capital
Since 1990, Oaktree Capital’s Howard Marks has been routinely publishing memos to memorialize lessons he has learned, insights he has had, and effects of current events on the markets. His memos provide unique clarity into the world around us as it relates to financial markets and the investments we make… Read More
On Effective Boards of Directors: Perspective from Mark Leonard of Constellation Software
Our current policy is to invest all of our retained investor’s capital (and then some) when we think we can achieve our targeted hurdle rates. When we can’t find enough attractive investments, we plan to maintain our hurdle rates and build cash for as long as our shareholders and board will allow. We believe that … Read More
Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Letters: 1977 to 2017
Since 1977, Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholders are candid and insightful glimpses into how the company sees the world and in turn makes investments… Read More
Tim Ferris’ Interview with General Stanley McChrystal
Tim Ferriss is a host of a popular podcast. In this week’s episode he interviews General Stanley McChrystal… Listen to Audio
The Five Experiments: Perspective from Fernando del Pino
By Fernando del Pino December 2015 When I was kindly invited by our founder to make a presentation in our first meeting, I thought it would be interesting to bring out some global views on what I believe is a multi- generational decline of the Western civilization rather than talking about the very interesting but … Read More
Remembering A Hero: Welles Crowther
Written by Peggy Noonan What do I think about when I think about that day? The firemen who climbed “the stairway to Heaven” with 50, 60 pounds of gear. The people who called from Windows on the World and said: “I just want you to know I love you.” The men on the plane who … Read More
Discipline, Leadership, and Overcoming: Tim Ferris with Jocko Willink
Tim Ferriss is a host of a popular podcast. In this week’s episode he interviews Jocko Willink on Discipline, Leadership and Overcoming. Listen to Audio
The University of Georgia: Enhanced Cybersecurity through Strategic Partnerships (White Paper)
Introduction The University of Georgia is uniquely positioned to significantly enhance education and workforce development, new discovery and statewide knowledge transfer to benefit the State of Georgia and our partners in cybersecurity and defense. The Athens campus of the state’s most comprehensive institution of higher learning is in close geographic proximity to Ft. Gordon, and UGA … Read More
Jocko Willink’s Interview with Colonel William Reeder, US Army Pilot, Vietnam POW
Jocko Willink hosts his own podcast. View his channel by clicking View his channel by clicking here… Listen to Audio
Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center (White Paper)
Mission: The Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center is a state-owned facility designed to promote modernization in cybersecurity technology for private and public industries through unique education, training, research, and practical applications. Vision: The Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center will be recognized as a world-class cyber range and training facility focused on developing the next generation cyber … Read More
Sam Harris’ Interview with General Michael V. Hayden
Sam Harris hosts his own podcast. View his channel by clicking here… Listen to Audio
Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation: Perspective by Jean Twenge
Written by Jean M. Twenge One day last summer, around noon, I called Athena, a 13-year-old who lives in Houston, Texas. She answered her phone—she’s had an iPhone since she was 11—sounding as if she’d just woken up. We chatted about her favorite songs and TV shows, and I asked her what she likes to do … Read More
President Theodore Rosevelt’s Citizenship in a Republic Address
CITIZENSHIP IN A REPUBLIC Theodore Roosevelt Speech delivered at the Sorbonne Paris, France April 23, 1910 The Famous Quote: “The Man In The Arena” It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit … Read More
Abraham Lincoln: Perspective from Leo Tolstoy published in The World on 7 February 1909
TOLSTOI HOLDS LINCOLN WORLD’S GREATEST HERO. Bigger Than His Country. Bigger Than All the Presidents Together: a Christ in Miniature. STILL TOO NEAR TO APPRECIATE HIS POWER. Great Russian Tells of Reverence For Lincoln Even Among Barbarians. Of all the great national heroes and statesman of history, Lincoln is the only real giant. Alexander, Fredric the Great, Caesar, Napoleon, Gladstone … Read More
Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s Report to the House of Commons in June 1940
Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s Report to the House of Commons4 June 1940From the moment that the French defenses at Sedan and on the Meuse were broken at the end of the second week of May, only a rapid retreat to Amiens and the south could have saved the British and French Armies who had entered … Read More