Saitama Pref., 22 August 2025
I'm now reading 'The Intelligent Investor' by Benjamin Graham (1894-1976), himself an unusually intelligent investor who has had a great influence upon the life of Warren Buffett, the Sage of Omaha, known worldwide as by far the most successful investor the world has ever had. I got the book on 15 November 2022, but I'm really ashamed to admit that I haven't read it through yet. Sooner or later I'll finish reading it. But the more important thing is whether you are an investor or not. If you aren't an investor, then what's the use of reading it? It would be like someone who knows all the rules of a sport but hasn't ever enjoyed playing it at all. Do you wanna be someone like that? Me? Of course not.
Well, the book is open now and my eyes are on page 35. At the top of the page can be seen a quote from Blaise Pascal (1623-1662). It reads:
'All of human unhappiness comes from one single thing: not knowing how to remain at rest in a room.'
Agree or disagree? But what would our life be like if all of us lived like that? After all, he was an idealistic French philosopher in the 17th century who, putting metaphysics above all else, stayed indoors most of his life musing about this and that. Agriculture and commerce probably meant nothing to him when they helped him live. Yeah, I'd be very, very happy to admit that I'm nothing more or less than something like a thinking reed, but I'd rather take all the biblical words literally than take all the philosophers' impractical words too seriously.
Such being the case, I'll soon go traveling again, defying the philosopher's words. We physically exist to be active and dynamic. Did Pascal want us all to be like living corpses fixed in one place? If so, that would be totally unacceptable to most people in the world who aren't interested in philosophy at all. Anyway, I'll leave home heading westwards on Monday morning and be back home on Wednesday. Exactly where? You shall know on Monday.
Das war's für heute. Ich wünsche Ihnen ein Schönes Wochenende. / That's all for today. Have a great weekend.