What a lollapalooza of a book! Some particularly amusing excerpts:"How to be happy, get rich, and other advice" [p137]
- "Just avoid things like AIDs situations, racing trains to the crossing, and doing cocaine. Develop good mental habits. If your new behavior earns you a little temporary unpopularity with your peer group, then the hell with them." Then, be satisfied with what you have, and beware of envy.
On how to find a good spouse: "The best single way is to deserve a good spouse because a good spouse is by definition not nuts."
"Practical thought about practical thought" [p279]
1) "... it is usually best to simplify problems by deciding big 'no-brainer' questions first."
2) Deal with math: "Without numerical fluency, in the part of life most of us inhabit, you are like a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest."
3) Start with the end in mind; think about problems in reverse.
4) "... the best and most practical wisdom is elementary academic wisdom." You need not be a deep specialist, but you must apply systems thinking - "think in a multidisciplinary manner."
5) Really big effects come from large combinations of factors, not a single thing.
Quotes Demosthenes [p326]: "What a man wishes, he will believe."
Geometric progressions [p366]: "I will give you one of the following... $1,000 per day for 30 days... Alternatively, ... a penny on day one, double it on day two, double the resulting sum again on day three, and continue doubling your holdings for 30 days, but you may not spend a single cent until the 30th day has passed." Take $30,000 or take $5,368,709.12 ?
BTW, was quite surprised to find a typo - in a sub-heading no less! - on page 32 [expanded 2nd edition 2006].
