“I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. But because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, ‘I am rich and affluent and have no need of anything,’ and yet do not realize that you are wretched, poor, pitiable, naked, and blind."
Revelation 3:15-17
"Either we have hope within us or we don’t; it’s a dimension of the soul; it’s not essentially dependent on some particular observation of the world or estimate of the situation. Hope is not prognostication. It is an orientation of the spirit, an orientation of the heart; it transcends the world that is immediately experienced, and is anchored somewhere beyond its horizons.
Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously headed for early success, but, rather, an ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed."
Vaclav Havel, Disturbing the Peace, 1990
“It has been more profitable for us to bind together in the wrong direction than to be alone in the right one. Those who have followed the assertive idiot rather than the introspective wise person have passed us some of their genes. This is apparent from a social pathology: psychopaths rally followers.”
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Black Swan, April 2007
"Now might be a good time to find something that you can firmly believe in, something that is greater and better than yourself, and then hang on to it and faithfully serve it, with all your strength and hope."
Jesse, La Vie en Rose, 18 August 2015
"And Peter understood that neither Nero, nor all his legions, could overcome the living truth— that they could not overwhelm it with tears or blood, and that now its victory was beginning.
He understood with equal force why the Lord had turned him back on the road. That city of pride, of crime, of wickedness, and of a lust for power, was beginning to be His."
Henryk Sienkiewicz, Quo Vadis, 1896
Stocks managed to hold a modest rally today.
There was a hidden weakness on the tape amidst all the bravado.
The Dollar gave up the 98 handle.
Watch the Bond and the Dollar. They will speak the truths that risk assets like equities hide.
VIX is still mispricing risks of all manner.
Hubris knows no fear, until it feels the first breath-taking plunge into the abyss.
Those imperious few.
They will be scattered remnants on the streets of hell, voicelessly blown here and there by dull, directionless winds.
In the end, the only thing that matters is to be among the saints.
Have a pleasant evening