Chapter 6 : Humility Is The Gateway To Attaining Wisdom
- A lesser-known equation from Albert Einstein : Ego = 1 / Knowledge.
- The more you reach out to and associate with individuals, whether younger or older, who are better and smarter than you are, the more you will learn and the faster you will improve.
- People tend to believe in what they have personally seen, far more than what they read has happened to others. We are all biased by our personal history.You likely also grossly overestimate the chance of those events happening again.
- There are a million ways to get rich. But there’s only one way to stay rich: Humility, often to the point of paranoia.
- Humility doesn’t mean taking fewer risks. Sequoia takes as big of risks today as it did 30 years ago. But it’s taken risks in new industries, with new approaches, and new partners, cognizant that what worked yesterday isn’t what will work tomorrow.
- If we can be certain of one thing, it is that we can never be fully sure. We must learn to live with doubt and embrace uncertainty. We shouldn’t feel anxious about not knowing things. In science, “I don’t know” is not an indication of a failure but rather is a necessary first step toward enlightenment
- What an investor needs is the ability to correctly evaluate selected businesses. Note that word ‘selected’: You don’t have to be an expert on every company, or even many. You only have to be able to evaluate companies within your circle of competence. The size of that circle is not very important; knowing its boundaries, however, is vital.
- If you can’t find businesses within your circle of competence, don’t hurriedly step outside that circle because of the fear of missing out, which is often the case in a bull market. Instead, spend time studying industries and companies outside your circle before crossing the boundaries.
- Again, it’s not important how big your circle of competence is. What is critical is to clearly know where the edges are.
