Nomad's Bookshelf

Recently I became interested in investment and took my first step by picking up this book. It introduces basic methods in selecting potential companies and tells personal experiences of the author in his long years of investing. Chapter 1: Self Conviction There are three conditions to be successful – not simply in finance but in any field. That is sincerity, desperation, and firm will. Negative mindset only hinders one from pursuing his goals and picture yourself that achieved what you wanted. Follow successful models as they are already verified and ACT, not speak. Chapter 2: Increase Your Capacity Every person has their own capacity to handle money. Even if one earned money that exceeds the capacity, it is only temporary and will soon decrease to reach its maximum. As a result, one’s capacity must be increased to handle more wealth, and the way to do it is through having altruism and humility. The basic attitude towards investment is not trying to make more fortun

            At first glance I was convinced the book to be one of the detective stories, which would cover a case related to a dog as the cover implies. But unexpectedly, and as many other readers would also be, my assumption was wrong.             It did not take long to realize that the main protagonist, Christopher Boone is autistic. The first few chapters, which is marked as the ‘2’ and not ‘1’ due to his preference for prime numbers, already indicates that he has a hard time contemplating feelings and thoughts of others. On the other hand Christopher displays a particular fondness and talent for mathematics and physics, and this characteristic is permeated even to his daily lives as he exacts exactness and punctuality in everything; time, arrangement of furniture, and logical reasoning to an extreme degree. So overall, it can be said that he follows the general conception of ‘autism children,’ which as considered eccentric and emotionless. Thus I believed in the beginning t

            Years ago, when I was little, I remember being frightened by the dread of death. Even though I was just a kid who craved for chocolate and ice cream, there were times when the thought that me, my loved ones, and everyone around me will one day die and be buried cold. What happens next? Where do we go? How scary is it, that one who firmly existed simply perishes away in such short notice? The sudden influx of these philosophical speculations always drove me insane and I would run around the hallway, yelling some stupid song to flush my nightmares out. Fortunately, I am no longer seized by those terrors but instead developed an attitude, an inward question that approaches me time to time: Death is inevitable. Then how must one live to die in true contentment?             Demian is one of the books that gave a glimpse to my question. To clarify, it poses a question similar to mine and puts a story to show how the author, Herman Hesse, achieved the answer. But the reaso

                          What makes humans so special? What makes us stand on top of every other species and renovate the plant more palatable to us? The answer is, nothing. Although we are just one of a myriad of species constituting the world, we tend to forget and act as preeminent beings. Ernest Hemingway portrays the humbleness humans should equip through an old man fighting his way within nature.             Santiago, the old man, is a veteran fisherman in an unlucky streak. Although he has an apprentice that looks up to him and secures his side, his pride compels him to go further to catch a big fish and redeem his position. Fortunately, he meets his prey in short notice. However it didn’t take long to figure out that the fish tugging the line wasn’t some mediocre creature but an opponent worthy to give all he had. For three days did the fight continue and the pain from his back, severed palm, and nausea assailed him. But in the end the marlin was caught and being aston

            I remember my first encounter with this book; a short story it seemed, and I picked it up without hesitation. But the story was much more complex than my expectations, and there were analogies and rhetoric beyond the understanding of a 14-year-old. But now, after six years past, I finally had the chance to read it again.             The story unfolds by juxtaposing two incompatible values, which is represented by Rivière and Fabien. Riviere, with a stern and austere nature, exacts punctuality from his workers which would promise the success of the night flight business. He thrusted away the gentler joys of life including love and friendship and used all his energies for work. While pitying his deprivation of humanity he also acknowledges that he is “responsible for all the sky,” and such weakness of his cannot be tolerated. On the other hand, Fabien is lost in the sky, steering the plane through the murk of darkness. Although being newly married, the storm thronging a

Hans Rosling, the Swedish physician and statistician, gives 10 reasons why the world is better than we think. To summarize, they are 1.  Gap Instinct: We tend to resort in dichotomy and imagine two polarized groups. However the reality is almost never that extreme, and we should always notice the majority in the middle. 2.  Negativity Instinct: When we receive negative news, we remember them very clearly and fear they would affect us. This overly negative impression is created by the media as it does not report good and gradual improvement but announces provocative news. 3.  Straight Line Instinct: A line is hardly straight. They have S-bends, slides, humps, etc. 4.  Fear Instinct: The world seems scarier because it is filtered by the media to grab our attention. 5.  Size Instinct: A lonely number tells nothing. We should always compare and get things in proportion. Looking at rates rather than the amount can help. 6.  Generalization Instinct: Question you