Verum Insights...

Some people are more certain of everything than I am of anything.”

“The only place people find fulfillment is within themselves. And too often, that's the last place they look.”

“The pursuit of fewer errors is sensible; the insistence on none at all, counterproductive.”

“Once you've internalised the concept that you can't prove anything in absolute terms, life becomes all the more about odds, chances, and trade-offs.

In a world without provable truths, the only way to refine the probabilities that remain is through greater knowledge and understanding.”

“[A]s important as moral and ethical issues are here, you don't need to rely on altruism to make the case for tackling poverty. It is in everyone's self-interest to reduce the societal consequences of deprivation. Poverty can foster crime and health care problems and in various other ways increase social costs and affect the lives of people who aren't poor.”1 likes

“That story had at its core a discussion of my fundamental view that nothing in life is certain and that, consequently, all decisions are about probabilities

.... A truly probabilistic view of life quickly leads to the recognition that almost all significant issues are enormously complex and demand that one delve into those complexities to identify the relevant considerations and the inevitable trade-offs

....Even the best decisions about intervention are probabilistic and run a real risk of failure, but the failure wouldn’t necessarily make the decision wrong.”

“The point of the story is that even a highly disciplined investor can't see a market bottom any more easily than he can see the top.”

“Inner needs drive external accomplishments but can never be satisfied by those external accomplishments. Which is merely to say that, for some people, the inability to be satisfied is a chronic condition.”

“There's a widespread view that the public sector from the private sector than the other way around. But the traffic seems to me to go in both directions.”

“The tendency to go to excess seems to stem from something inherent in human nature, as does the remarkable failure to draw lessons from past experience.”

“While we were standing by, Clinton was doing the New York Times crossword puzzle, which he reputedly could dispatch in a matter of minutes. He asked me about a clue—a three-letter word starting with some letter or other. I had no idea, so I asked my son Jamie. ¶ 'Who's so stupid they don't know that?' Jamie retorted in a voice that could be heard at the other end of the phone. ¶ 'The President of the United States,' I said.”

“As the increasing number of Americans attempting to do business in China are discovering, the Chinese may move, but not in direct response to demands or on someone else's timetable. In the twenty-first century, China will be a formidable and staunchly independent force.”

“The President wanted to get together to discuss the issue and called me at the Jefferson one night at about 10:30 and asked me to come over. I was getting ready to go to bed but was happy to oblige. Since my Secret Service detail had turned in for the night, I went downstairs and walked over to the White house. ¶ I went to the nearest gate, and the uniformed Secret Service officer inside the gatehouse asked if he could help me. 'I'm here to see the President,' I said, mentioning that I was Secretary of the Treasury. ¶ The guard gave me a suspicious look and sent me to another gate, where they recognized me and let me in.”

“The belief that affluence can insulate is illusory.”