佳句書摘 - The Snowball (8)
Posted in Quote on Jan 18th, 2009
The Genie這個章節只有兩頁，節錄一段巴菲特公開演講時常會和學生分享的神燈精靈故事。故事的寓意很簡單，幾近老生常談，但從巴菲特口中說出就是不一樣：
“When I was sixteen, I had just two things on my mind - girls and cars,” Buffett would say, taking a little poetic license by leaving out the part about money. “I wasn’t very good with girls. So I thought about cars. I thought about girls, too, but I had more luck with cars.”
“let’s say that when I turned sixteen, a genie had appeared to me. And that genie said, ‘Warren, I’m going to give you the car of your choice. It’ll be here tomorrow morning with a big bow tied on in. Brand-new. And that’s all yours.’
“Having head all the genie stories, I would say, ”What’s the catch?’ And the genie would answer, ‘There’s only one catch. This is the last car you’re ever going to get in your life. So it’s going to last a lifetime.’
“If that had happened, I would have picked out that car. But can you imagine, knowing it had to last a lifetime, what I would do with it?
“I would read the manual about five times. I would always keep it garaged. If there was the least little dent or scratch, I’d have it fixed right away because I wouldn’t want it rusting. I would baby the car, because it would have to last a lifetime.
“That’s exactly the position you are in concerning your mind and body. You only get one mind and one body. And it’s got to last a lifetime. Now, it’s very easy to let them ride for many years. But if you don’t take care of that mind and that body, they’ll be a wreck forty years later, just like the car would be.
“It’s what you do right now, today, that determines how your mind and body will operate ten, twenty, and thirty years from now.”
- The Snowball, P687
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