Amar Reddy

 I never stopped trying to become qualified for the job

- Darwin Smith, ex-CEO of Kimberly-Clark

Can’t is the worst word that’s written or spoken;
Doing more harm here than slander and lies;
On it is many a strong spirit broken,
And with it many a good purpose dies.
It springs from the lips of the thoughtless each morning
And robs us of courage we need through the day:
It rings in our ears like a timely-sent warning
And laughs when we falter and fall by the way.

Can’t is the father of feeble endeavor,
The parent of terror and half-hearted work;
It weakens the efforts of artisans clever,
And makes of the toiler an indolent shirk.
It poisons the soul of the man with a vision,
It stifles in infancy many a plan;
It greets honest toiling with open derision
And mocks at the hopes and the dreams of a man.

Can’t is a word none should speak without blushing;
To utter it should be a symbol of shame;
Ambition and courage it daily is crushing;
It blights a man’s purpose and shortens his aim.
Despise it with all of your hatred of error;
Refuse it the lodgment it seeks in your brain;
Arm against it as a creature of terror,
And all that you dream of you some day shall gain.

Can’t is the word that is foe to ambition,
An enemy ambushed to shatter your will;
Its prey is forever the man with a mission
And bows but to courage and patience and skill.
Hate it, with hatred that’s deep and undying,
For once it is welcomed ’twill break any man;
Whatever the goal you are seeking, keep trying
And answer this demon by saying: “I can.”

- Edgar A. Guest

Be an action man..only then you will come alive

“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 better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

“Citizenship in a Republic,”
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

“…the man who really counts in the world is the doer, not the mere critic-the man who actually does the work, even if roughly and imperfectly, not the man who only talks or writes about how it ought to be done.” (1891)

“Criticism is necessary and useful; it is often indispensable; but it can never take the place of action, or be even a poor substitute for it. The function of the mere critic is of very subordinate usefulness. It is the doer of deeds who actually counts in the battle for life, and not the man who looks on and says how the fight ought to be fought, without himself sharing the stress and the danger.” (1894)

- Theodore Roosevelt

“ This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one: the being a force of nature instead of a feverish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. Life is no ‘brief candle’ to me. It is a sort of splendid torch that I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to a future generation. ”

- George Bernard Shaw

via Julia’s Dad

I recently read “Warren Buffet Speaks,” a less dense book cataloging the words of wisdom from Warren Buffet. In a section of the book, talking about the ppl that don’t hold Mr.Buffet in high reverence, Micheal Lewis, the author of Liar’s Poker – one of my favorite books, states “The reason [Buffett] is so rich is simply that random games produce big winners”.

Value investing in its pure form, as postulated by Benjamin Graham and perfected by his pupil — Warren Buffet, basically focuses on significnatly lowering or altogether eliminating the randomness/volatility/risk of their expected/desired returns.

Though I agree with Mr. Lewis’s statement that “Random Games Produces Big Winners,” I have to say that it doesn’t apply to Mr. Buffet as there isn’t nothing random about his style of investing, or the games he has chosen to play. He is a prudent investor driven by values, common sense, and unfoolish greed.

Unfoolish is not a valid word, but that shouldn’t prevent it from making sense.

Read this paper to delve deeper.

Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s business partner, once said,

“The safest way to get what you want is to deserve what you want.”

This in my opinion applies to just about everything, especially relationships and investing.

If you don’t take advantage of yourself, someone else will.

- Jakob Lodwick.

This simple statement summarizes why ppl should work for themselves, and not at a desk owned by somebody else. Jakob is a serial entrepreneur who is currently doing, and has done, cool stuff on the net. His blog is mostly brilliant.