Character is proportionate to N, the number of consecutive failures without being discouraged, or equivalently, the number of successive rejections without being intimidated.

Most so-called writers keep writing and writing with the hope, some day, to find something to say.

Is the economy something organic or is it something engineered? I think it's closer to the organic. You harm it by artificially suppressing volatility in it.

But they never notice the following inconsistency: this so-called worst-case event, when it happened, exceeded the worst case at the time.

Paul Krugman is a danger to society!

Banks have never made money in the history of banking, losing the equivalent of all their past profits periodically - while bankers strike it rich.

When an investor focuses on short-term investments, he or she is observing the variability of the portfolio, not the returns - in short, being fooled by randomness.