Tom Brady

Today’s Devotional Thoughts

This is not just true of "religious law":

Only greatly insolent people establish a religious law which is to be taken for granted by others, which should be accepted by everyone on faith, without any discussion or doubts.

A Calendar of Wisdom: Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul, Written and Selected from the World’s Sacred Texts by Leo Tolstoy (translated by Peter Sekirin)

Something I personally have to think more about…you?

We have nearly limitless potential, yet too few ever try to reach it. Why? The answer lies in this: We can do anything, but we can’t do everything. Many people let everyone around them decide their agenda in life. As a result, they never really dedicate themselves to their purpose in life. They become a jack-of-all-trades, master of none—rather than a jack-of-few- trades, focused on one.

— The Maxwell Daily Reader: 365 Days of Insight to Develop the Leader Within You and Influence Those Around You by John C. Maxwell

Speaking about something I need to think about, as should all "long term" Christians:

This temptation comes later. It is addressed to those who have already admitted the claim in principle and are even making some sort of effort to meet it. Our temptation is to look eagerly for the minimum that will be accepted. We are in fact very like honest but reluctant taxpayers. We approve of an income tax in principle. We make our returns truthfully. But we dread a rise in the tax. We are very careful to pay no more than is necessary. And we hope—we very ardently hope—that after we have paid it there will still be enough left to live on.

A Year with C.S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works by C.S. Lewis

Today’s Devotional Thoughts

Normally, this would lead to three posts…but I figured I’d stick all the devotional quotes I especially liked together in one this fine Saturday…

“If you wish to improve, be content to appear clueless or stupid in extraneous matters—don’t wish to seem knowledgeable. And if some regard you as important, distrust yourself.”

–EPICTETUS, ENCHIRIDION, 13a

And…

How much more time, energy, and pure brainpower would you have available if you drastically cut your media consumption? How much more rested and present would you feel if you were no longer excited and outraged by every scandal, breaking story, and potential crisis (many of which never come to pass anyway)?

The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday

If you could go anywhere, where would you like to go? Not in terms of vacations, but in your life. Your answer to that question does a lot to determine whether or not you’re successful. You see, we’re all on a journey, whether we know it or not. We are traveling inevitably toward the ends of our lives. So the real question for us is whether we’re going to select a destination and steer a course for it, or allow ourselves to be swept along with the tide, letting others determine where we’ll end up. The choice is entirely up to us.

— The Maxwell Daily Reader: 365 Days of Insight to Develop the Leader Within You and Influence Those Around You by John C. Maxwell

When people wanted to kill a bear in the ancient times, they hung a heavy log over a bowl of honey. The bear would push the log away in order to eat the honey. The log would swing back and hit the bear. The bear would become irritated and push the log even harder, and it would return and hit him harder in return. This would continue until the log killed the bear. People behave in the same way when they return evil for the evil they receive from other people. Can’t people be wiser than bears?

A Calendar of Wisdom: Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul, Written and Selected from the World’s Sacred Texts by Leo Tolstoy (translated by Peter Sekirin)

This Should Surprise Nobody

This should surprise nobody who actually was willing to listen to all sides of the lockdown debate. It might be an “unintentional consequence,” but it wasn’t unpredictable.

But, we all suffer from confirmation bias.

You Don’t Say?

Okay, this Is Funny

I should probably caveat this for the humorlous ones that obviously it is playing on a stereotype, but it would be just as funny if someone did an equivalent joke about men, say, refusing to ask for directions.

Putting the Thumb on the Investment Scale

In this article, it discusses the effect of day traders on the stock market, including the recent GameStop fun:

One interesting note:

In the old days, retail investors were as a rule always the ones being outsmarted by hedge funds. Now the tables are turned.

It probably won’t surprise you that NASDAQ is going to make sure the little guy can’t do that again:

Remember folks, only the elite are allowed to game the system.

UPDATE: Tucker Carlson chimes in (sorry if a painful ad plays first):

And, as Tucker notes, Discord shut an associated trader community down: Read More