Principles: Life and Work

by Ray Dalio

I love getting to know interesting people from interesting places and seeing the world through their eyes. This is true whether they are rich or poor. Seeing life through the eyes of the indigenous people I got to know in Papua New Guinea was as illuminating for me as gaining the perspectives of the political and economic leaders, world-changing entrepreneurs, and cutting-edge scientists I’ve spent time with. I’ll never forget the blind holy man I met in a mosque in Syria, who explained the Quran and his connection to God to me. Encounters like these have taught me that human greatness and terribleness are not correlated with wealth or other conventional measures of success. I’ve also learned that judging people before really seeing things through their eyes stands in the way of understanding their circumstances—and that isn’t smart. I urge you to be curious enough to want to understand how the people who see things differently from you came to see them that way. You will find that interesting and invaluable, and the richer perspective you gain will help you decide what you should do.