When it comes to decision-making in investment law, we have a lot to say. Of course, sometimes someone else has already said it best. Here are quotes that inspire and humor us; hopefully they will help you along the way.
- “Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.” – Ian Fleming
- “Anytime 4 New Yorkers get into a cab together without arguing, a bank robbery has just taken place.” – Johnny Carson
- “You can follow the action, which gets you good pictures. You can follow your instincts, which’ll probably get you in trouble. Or you can follow the money, which 9 times out of 10 will get you closer to the truth.” – From the movie Two Jakes, Robert Towne screenwriter
- “Everyone believes very easily whatever he fears or desires.” – Jean de la Fontaine
- “A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world.” – John Le Carre
- “Whenever there is any doubt, there is no doubt.” – From the movie Ronin, by David Mamet screenwriter
- “Whom God would destroy, he first strikes blind” – A quote from a World War II German officer whose troops were about to be destroyed by the Red Army, expressing frustration at the German General Staff’s inability to properly assess field intelligence.
- “Men easily miss what is right under their eyes, that concealment can often be found in the obvious and that in some cases the most direct approach can become the least expected” – Basil Liddell Hart
- “The work of Wall Street often is to introduce people who should not borrow to people who should not lend.” – Quote appearing in The Wall Street Journal
- “Emanuel Lasker, a famous chess champion, was once asked why he had refused to accept the piece that his opponent had offered. He replied “When an opponent takes 45 minutes to decide on something that momentous, I don’t argue with him.”
Finally, an old Yiddish joke on the imperfect outcomes we face:
A matchmaker was desperately trying to convince a bride to proceed with a wedding and a groom she wasn’t crazy about. The bride protests: “I don’t care for the mother-in-law of the groom; she’s disagreeable.”
“But you’re not marrying the mother-in-law,” the matchmaker replies. “What you want is her son.”
“Yes, but he’s not good looking,” the bride laments.
“So? If he’s not attractive, he’ll be even more faithful to you,” the matchmaker asserts.
”He also doesn’t have any money,” the bride counters.
“Who’s talking money? Are you marrying money? It’s a husband you want.” The matchmaker does not relent.
“But he’s got a hunchback!” The bride finally exclaims.
“Well what do you want? He can’t have a single fault?”