To exaggerate only a little: Local news reports on softball tournaments. Global news reports on plane crashes and genocides.

Stress, pain, discomfort, shock, and disgust—for all its tragic downsides, it’s also when the magic happens.

A good question to ask is, “Which of my current views would change if my incentives were different?” If you answer “none,” you are likely not only persuaded but blinded by your incentives.

Imagine a life where almost everything gets better but you never appreciate it because your expectations rise as fast as your circumstances. It’s terrifying, and almost as bad as a world where nothing gets better.

Growth by acquisition often occurs when management wants faster growth than customers think the business deserves.

Albert Einstein put it this way: I take time to go for long walks on the beach so that I can listen to what is going on inside my head. If my work isn’t going well, I lie down in the middle of a workday and gaze at the ceiling while I listen and visualize what goes on in my imagination.

What was so unique about the 1950s was the ability for people to find financial balance in a way that before and since has felt elusive. World War II left its mark on America economically and socially. Between 1942 and 1945, virtually all wages were set by the National War Labor Board, which favored flatter pay—a smaller gap between low-income and

The point, then, isn’t that you should read less news and more books. It’s that if you read good books you’ll have an easier time understanding what you should or shouldn’t pay attention to in the news.

If you have the right answer and you’re a good storyteller, you’ll almost certainly get ahead. That’s always been true, always will be true, and it shows up in so many areas of history.