The ability to focus attention on important things is a defining characteristic of intelligence.
Interpretation
Intelligence is largely about the capacity to concentrate on what truly matters.
This quote emphasizes that true intelligence is not just about having knowledge, but also about the ability to prioritize and focus on the most significant aspects of a situation. The act of focusing attention effectively distinguishes intelligent individuals, as this skill allows them to navigate complexities and make informed decisions based on what is essential.
In practice
In a motivational speech about effective decision-making.
Those on the downside of rising economic inequality generally do not want government policies that look like handouts. They typically do not want the government to make the tax system more progressive, to impose punishing taxes on the rich, in order to give the money to them. Redistribution feels demeaning. It feels like being labeled a failure.
Speculative markets have always been vulnerable to illusion. But seeing the folly in markets provides no clear advantage in forecasting outcomes, because changes in the force of the illusion are difficult to predict.
That's the world we live in: when it comes to economics, people have emotions; it's not like chemistry or physics.
Money management has been a profession involving a lot of fakery - people saying they can beat the market, and they really can't.
We should not be focusing on quick solutions. The really important concern for policymakers everywhere is to prevent disasters - that is, the outlier events that matter the most.
If we wait until income inequality is much more severe, we will have a whole class of new superrich who will probably feel entitled to their wealth and will have the means to defend their interest. That's already gone far enough. We shouldn't let it become more extreme.
Judge not thy friend until thou standest in his place.
Even the most powerful human being has a limited sphere of strength. Draw him outside of that sphere and into your own, and his strength will dissipate.
Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves.
Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.
If you have no eyes, do not walk blindly; take a staff in your hand. If you have no staff of insight, do not walk without a guide.
I have occasionally - if ever I do interviews that are difficult or nerve-wracking - I take my wife's dog tags and have them in my pocket because it's a very quick way to realize that what I'm doing is not that important. It's not really worth getting stressed about because it's not, you know, war.
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