— Bill Bonner (link)
Most of the world is so caught up in getting and spending money that it hardly has time to notice the leaves.
And maybe it is better off for it.
A man puts his head down… he keeps his eye on the ball and his shoulder to the wheel… and he’s ready to make money. Or war.
And then, by the time his hair whitens and he retires from making money, it is too late. His sclerotic brain can learn no more new tricks. It has no flexibility… and no time to develop real taste and judgement.
That’s why the “self-made man” may be the least civilized of the species.
He is too busy to think and feel. He is getting rich in his youth. And then, when he is spending… that’s where the disaster of his life becomes apparent.
He has not taken the time to prepare himself. He cannot appreciate style… or wit… or charm… or intimacy.
In retirement, when he can no longer do the only thing he knows how to do – make money – he is nothing more than a coat on a stick rambling around a house far too big for him, a laughingstock to the young… an embarrassment to the old.”