The most important book in investing and in human society.
There are many books by many great accomplished investors but I believe the best one is but a tiny 50 page book, 孫子兵法, that is over 2000 years old which we can read in under 1 hour.
Although the words written are short and few, the meaning behind them will benefit us far greater and allow us to ponder/savor it for a far greater duration than any other books.
字簡意深
*The second most important “book” in my opinion is perhaps Warren Buffet’s Letters to Shareholders. No it is not a literal book but over decades of annual shareholder letters to Berkshire Hathaway investors which can be found on their company website.
孫子兵法 vs investing
Despite being a 兵法 (military strategies) it focuses on the concept of success rather than specific tactics. It is also based largely on tackling against human adversaries in the human society. (the keyword is “human”)
So instead of 兵法 it can totally be titled 勝法 (Success strategies/ Principles for Success or the Art of Success).
*in a later article, I will discuss why it should also be instead named 不敗之法 instead of 勝法 (Art of “Not Losing” vs Art of Winning)
In this series, I will attempt to document and discuss 孫子兵法 in multiple chapters and my personal understanding of how we can use it for investing.
I will also loosely translate ancient literature into my personal modern understanding which may differ from widely adopted translations/ interpretations.
enjoy.