We have this tendency to revere quotes by famous dead people even when they steer us down the wrong path.
Here’s one…
Nothing so undermines your financial judgement as the sight of your neighbor getting rich.
– J. P. Morgan
Morgan was a bully and an egotist so of course this was his take – projecting his own fears onto mankind.
The quote reflects darker aspects of human nature and we are not bound by it.
We can be grateful for what we have and happy for others who are thriving.
More here – PrimeCuts
It’s just about the MOCs isn’t it. Yes, even I can do it – “madness of crowds”. There has been than one book incorporating MOC into at least a part of its title. But illuminating reading nevertheless. Both Charles Mackay and Douglas Murray (more recently) have revealed different aspects of our tendency towards absurd crowd behaviour. Makes one more humble to realise our astonishingly insane, self-harming nature when we are together. Best decisions are made with full and careful due diligence, apart from the crowd, but never forgetting that every decision we make is coloured and flavoured by the full impact of our lifelong emotional experiences, with some of the most important being in very early childhood, often pre-verbal, and therefore effectively unavailable to our rational left brain.