"Active people are usually deficient in the higher activity, I mean individual activity. They are active as officials, merchants, scholars, that is as a species, but not as quite distinct separate and single individuals; in this respect they are idle. It is the misfortune of the active that their activity is almost always a little senseless. For instance, we must not ask the money making banker the reason of his restless activity, it is foolish. The active roll as the stone rolls, according to the stupidity of mechanics. All mankind is divided, as it was at all times and is still, into slaves and freemen; for whoever has not two thirds of his day for himself is a slave, be he otherwise whatever he likes, statesman, merchant, official, or scholar." - Nietzsche
Ooooh. Such statement here! Among mostly introverts, obsessed maniacs. You must be looking for trouble! And besides was it not instead that Nietzsche himself had too much free time on his hands?
Isn't that the kind of statements supposed to comfort introverts and obsessive maniacs, especially lonely ones ? I can't say it's the most impressive quote I read from Nietzsche.
Reminds me of something similar that Soros said to Neiderhofer about needing to work too hard in the markets. Soros told him trading was much simpler and more elegant. I believe it's in Neiderhofer's book before he blew out
I agree, being exactly in that category Nietzsche described. Miserably failed at trading, but made it quickly and very well as a merchant (actually just came back to it, was a merchant before I started trading). Why? I believe trading demands too much from one. I simply am not able to meet the requirements. Common physical trade on the other side is extremely forgiving and easy business compared. You can be pretty loose with decisions and still come out way ahead. You can compensate mistakes with persuasion, diplomacy, whatever. In trading it's always you against the ultimate truth: profit or loss. No slightest error allowed. Too much for a mere mortal. Guess that's why most money made by institutions is also commissions rather than direct market profits.
I was sitting in an Anthropology class once... teacher says "hunter-gatherers have a two hour workday". He went on about how the hunting team was expected to kill something so the tribe could have a feast and after a week the tribespeople would start getting on their case to bring something... So they work two hour days and have a big barbecue party about fifty times a year! At the time I was working full time for a guy that was a complete bullying asshole, had a nasty commute and was taking classes in the evenings. I was married to some b%^tch that wouldn't cook what I wanted and nagged me to work in my spare time... I reconsidered the advantages of civilization and dumped ALL that shit off the back edge of my world. I moved to a city that doesn't require car ownership even. Been having the best time of my life [if you don't count the years before the first grade of course... ]
The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones. – John Maynard Keynes