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The open-for-inspection half-way home for my writing…
From Hesiod:
“If you add a little to a little, and then do it again, soon that little shall be much.”
“It is best to do things systematically, since we are only human, and disorder is our worst enemy.”
“Work is no disgrace; it is idleness which is a disgrace.”
“Admire a small ship, but put your freight in a large one; for the larger the load, the greater will be the profit upon profit.”
“It will not always be summer; build barns.”
“One Page a Day Might Save Your Life” by James Altucher
Click here to read this inspirational story about the inventor of Pringles.
An email from BJ:
Over and over, I’ve cited this quote by you: “What we need to do in life is available to us. We come across good advice all the time – through the media and in conversation. But most of the time we do not pay attention. But sometimes we do pay attention and just when we need to. Those are the ‘Aha!’ moments that change everything and move us forward.”
Since taking this advice to heart, I’ve started paying more attention to all the good advice lying around in plain sight. And as a result, I believe I’ve become better at everything I do.
A nicely edited review of an exciting sports promotion…
“Many nations use language simply to convey information, but it’s different in Ireland. With most conversational exchanges you get an ‘added extra’ like the free little biscuit you sometimes get with a cappuccino in a fancy coffee place.” – Marian Keyes
Eight “English” Words From an Unexpected Source
When I got my Irish passport many years ago, I resolved to learn something about my ancestry. I read a bit of history. I reread some of the great Irish writers. And I listened to my favorite Irish singers – of which there are many.
But I also promised myself that I’d finally learn more about the language. And when I did, I discovered some very common Irish/Gaelic/Celtic words that have made their way into everyday English.
Here are 8 colorful – and useful – examples…
Galore comes from the Irish expression go leor. Leor means “enough” and go means “to.” So, literally, “to enough.” The word was rendered as galore in English in the early 1600s.
Hubbub is thought to come from the old Irish interjection Ub! Ub! Ubub!, which conveyed contempt. It may be related to the ancient Irish war cry Abu!
In England in the 1500s, before hubbub had the general meaning we know it by today, it was specifically associated with a certain kind of Irish rowdiness.
Although the exact origins of phony are unknown, it’s likely the word comes from an old con known as the fawney rig. Fawney is from an Irish word for “finger ring,” and rig is an old term for a “trick” or “swindle.”
Here’s how the con worked: The swindler would “accidentally” drop a cheap ring in front of their mark, or target. They would pick it up, while expressing relief that they hadn’t lost such a valuable piece of jewelry. And if they were lucky, they’d then sell it to the mark for much more than it was worth.
By the 20th century, the spelling of the word had been modified from fawney to phony.
Slew – meaning “a large number or quantity” – comes from the Irish sluagh, meaning “crowd, throng, army, or host.” In Irish folklore, the slua or sluagh are said to be restless ghosts or evil spirits, depicted as a flock of birds that cause trouble for the living by destroying property or killing domestic animals. (Yikes!)
Slogan comes from sluagh-ghairm, a word in Scots-Gaelic, a Celtic language spoken in Scotland that developed out of Middle Irish. As we just learned above, sluagh means “crowd, throng, army, or host.” Ghairm means “cry or shout.” Taken together, a sluagh-ghairm is the cry given by Celtic warriors in battle. Usually, these battle cries would be the last name of their clan or the name of their place of origin.
Sluagh-ghairm was adopted into English as “slogan” by the 1670s. By the early 1700s, the word was being used much the same way as it’s used today.
Smithereens is first found in Irish-English in the late 1700s. While its origin isn’t exactly known, it may come from smiodar, which means “fragment.” And –een is a diminutive suffix (which denotes something small).
Whiskey is short for whiskeybae, from the Irish uisce beatha or the Scots-Gaelic uisge beatha – both of which mean “water of life.” These terms, however, are ultimately translations of the Latin aqua vitae (also “water of life”), an even older name for alcohol. The word was adopted into English in the early 1700s.
Whiskey is also spelled whisky. The difference has to do with its country of origin. American and Irish producers spell it with the extra “e.” Canadian, Scottish, and Japanese distillers prefer “whisky.”
Sláinte! (Cheers!)
And my personal favorite…
Craic (pronounced “crack”) is a Gaelic word with no exact English translation. Maybe something like fun/amusement/having a good time.
In Ireland, a fun night out could be said to be “good craic.” The expression “What’s the craic?” can be a casual greeting, like “What’s up?” In one of Van Morrison’s sung poems, there is an easily misunderstood line about spending a morning with a friend: “And the craic was good.”
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Gaelic vs. Celtic
Irish. Gaelic. Celtic. What’s the difference?
And do you pronounce Celtic with a hard or soft C?
Celtic refers to the Celtic people, a group of Indo-Europeans that spoke some early version of the Celtic language (proto-Celtic) and shared similar cultural practices. They wandered around Europe for more than 1000 years before settling in what is now Ireland and northern England (Scotland, Wales, and Cornwall), the Isle of Mann, and Brittany at or about 400 AD.
Gaelic refers to the Irish language (spelled “Gaelige” in Irish), which is one of several Celtic languages. People have been speaking Gaelic in and around Ireland for 1500 years, but its use has diminished greatly in the past century. Today, there are about 75,000 Irish people that speak it daily, and another 1.5 million learning it as a second language.
So… Celtic refers to both a language family and an ethnic group. Gaelic is the Irish name for the Celtic language that is spoken (by a few) in Ireland, Wales, and Scotland. And Celtic can be pronounced with a hard or a soft C.
The idea for Labor Day – a national holiday celebrating workers – goes back to 1882. But it’s not clear who came up with it first. Peter J. McGuire, a carpenter and co-founder of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), is usually given the credit. But some historians believe it should actually go to a machinist named Matthew Maguire, who reportedly proposed the idea to the Central Labor Union (CLU).
It’s a bit of trivia that doesn’t much matter… except, I suppose, to the descendants of the McGuire/Maguire families.
Modern Times
First, a confession. I am nearing 70 and, until now, I’ve never watched Modern Times. I’ve seen one or two of Charlie Chaplin’s less-celebrated movies and bits and pieces of a dozen others, but not Modern Times.
What a huge hole that has been in my appreciation of one of the great dramatic geniuses of my parents’ generation.
I’m trying to think of an appropriate analogy. Not for my coevals, but for the many younger people that read my blog. Maybe this will work: It would be as if they had never seen The Godfather or Annie Hall.
It’s the second-best silent film I’ve ever seen (after Sunrise). If you haven’t seen it yet – whatever your age – do so asap. It will put every other movie you’ve ever seen in proper perspective.
From ArtNews.com – Finally, something is being done about that racist “flesh-tone” thing. To read the article, click here.
“The possessors of wealth can scarcely be indifferent to processes which, nearly or remotely, have been the fertile source of their possessions.” – Charles Babbage
Principles of Wealth #8*
When buying “things,” intelligent wealth builders are careful to consider whether they are appreciating or depreciating assets.
My friend Bernard has done very well in the furniture business, manufacturing his pieces in China and selling them to his retail outlets along the eastern seaboard.
In most respects, Bernard is a modest, self-effacing guy. He’s humble. He never boasts. He has a beautiful home that is not ostentatious. But he does wear very fine watches. And he drives high-end luxury cars.
I’ve asked him about this anomaly. As it turns out, those watches and cars are not, like most luxury products, diminishing assets. They are inventory in a side business that he’s been enjoying privately for most of his adult life.
Bernard makes a six-figure second income with these luxury goods. Through a network of contacts that he’s developed over the years, he regularly buys slightly used cars and a select group of expensive watches, enjoys them for 6 to 12 months, and then resells them. He buys them not from retailers or brokers but from people. From wannabe wealth builders who didn’t understand that, as I explained in Principle of Wealth #7, exchanging cash for such status symbols generally makes you poorer.
Generally, but not always.
There are a few exceptions. What Bernard does is one of them.
Here’s a typical example of how it works:
Hank, a 36-year-old hedge fund manager, makes a $400,000 bonus. He spends $320,000 of it on a brand-new Rolls Royce. Six months later, the stock market takes a dive. And a month after that, his income tax comes due.
Not having set aside cash for Uncle Sam, this foolish young man must sell his almost-brand-new car to pay his tax bill. He puts it on the market for $290,000. A week goes by without a single offer. He lowers the price to $265,000. No response. Desperate, he drops it to $190,000. Still no buyers. Finally, he sees a small ad in the paper: “Selling Your Royce? I’m a Buyer.” Hank calls the number and Bernard offers to buy it that day for $160,000.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Hank says, as he signs over his car to Bernard.
“Call me anytime,” Bernard says. “And by the way, I like that Submariner (Rolex) you’ve got there. Want to sell it?”
“How much will you give me?” Hank says.
“Forty grand in cash.”
“No way,” Hank says. I paid $87,000 for it.”
“No problem,” Bernard says.
A week later, Hank calls him and sells him the watch for $42,500.
Bernard wears the watch and drives the Rolls for the next six months, and then sells them for a total profit of $65,000.
Both Bernard and Hank have enjoyed owning these luxuries. The difference is that, ultimately, Bernard made a profit of $65,000 on them, while Hank lost about $200,000.
Here’s the point: You don’t have to eschew luxury goods to build wealth intelligently. You can enjoy them and sometimes even profit from them if you understand, and take advantage of, the difference between appreciating and depreciating assets.
* In this series of essays, I’m trying to make a book about wealth building that is based on the discoveries and observations I’ve made over the years: What wealth is, what it’s not, how it can be acquired, and how it is usually lost.
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