Charlie has become known: lifelong learning, intellectual curiosity, sobriety, avoidance of envy and resentment, reliability, learning from the mistakes of others, perseverance, objectivity, willingness to test one’s own beliefs, and many more. (Location 146)
Independence is the end that wealth serves for Charlie, not the other way around. (Location 157)
he never forgot the sound principles taught by his grandfather: to concentrate on the task immediately in front of him and to control spending. (Location 277)
I am a biography nut myself. And I think when you’re trying to teach the great concepts that work, it helps to tie them into the lives and personalities of the people who developed them. I think you learn economics better if you make Adam Smith your friend. That sounds funny, making friends among the “eminent dead,” but if you go through life making friends with the eminent dead who had the right ideas, I think it will work better for you in life and work better in education. It’s way better than just giving the basic concepts. (Location 346)
“Charlie, when you borrow a man’s car, you always return it with a full tank of gas.” (Location 363)