[C]apitalism without financial failure is not capitalism at all, but a kind of socialism for the rich.

Successful investing is about having people agree with you ... later.

Debt is always repaid, either by the borrower or by the lender.

Every debt is ultimately paid, if not by the debtor, then eventually by the creditor.

The art of banking is always to balance the risk of a run with the reward of a profit. The tantalizing factor in the equation is that riskier borrowers pay higher interest rates. Ultimate safety - a strongbox full of currency - would avail the banker nothing. Maximum risk - a portfolio of loans to prospective bankrupts at usurious interest rates - would invite disaster. A good banker safely and profitably treads the middle ground.

I believe that there is an important kernel of truth in the idea that financial errors recur every other generation.

Growth at an exceptional rate is a red flag in banking. It is hard enough to manage an ordinary bank; to control a sprouting weed is well-nigh impossible. If loans are expanding too quickly, the lending officers have probably been saying 'yes' too frequently.