Wrote Jonathan Clements, quoted in "Five Pearls of Wisdom From a Legend of Financial Writing/Jonathan Clements, the longtime Wall Street Journal columnist, died this weekend. Here are some of his best ideas" (NYT).
September 25, 2025
"There is a reason the world’s gardens are full of benches that nobody ever sits on."
"We aren’t built for leisure or built to relax. Rather, we are built to strive. We still need fulfilling work. The only difference, in retirement, is that we don’t have to worry so much about whether that work comes with a paycheck."
Speaking of finance, I was just reading: "It was only last summer that women declared they were looking for a man in finance, 6-5, blue eyes. The goal posts appear to have shifted since then. Now, some social media users are extolling the virtues — with varying degrees of sincerity — of settling for a partner to whom they’re not initially attracted. Such a person, the thinking goes, will ultimately treat you better than someone who is more obviously desirable."
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34 comments:
...as a man in finance I appreciate a good garden bench...
Althouse, doing "the Weave" again. A challenge to blend the themes into a single comment!
I think this recurring sketch is one of the few that has held up from Laugh-In.
....verrry interestink....
Jimmy Soul: If You Want To Be Happy
There's a second reason about those benches. Pigeons.
If you want people to stay and sit a while serve beer and wine.
Nobody? You haven't visited gardens with my wife.
Back in 2001 “Wired” magazine suggested that one reason for the rise of autism might be because once upon a time the socially awkward, high-functioning autistic, tech geeks had limited access to females, thanks to that social awkwardness. But in 21st century Silicon Valley sufficiently skilled technical geeks might be pulling down salaries north of a quarter million bucks (in 2001 dollars!). In other words, high incomes could make women very tolerant of social awkwardness.
'Shrekking' is just Game Theory under a different name.
You don't compete with everyone for the (superficially) most desirable person - you compete for someone on your own level.
"Now, some social media users are extolling the virtues — with varying degrees of sincerity — of settling for a partner to whom they’re not initially attracted."
Jebus, it might as well be Cosmo. They are Jill's complete lack of ability to think for themselves.
Our Public Schools are falling our children. The DATA reveals that fact, all over the nation. (Except Mississippi - where education is actually improving. )
Schools/ educators Concentrating on Mental health and other BS agendas, instead of learning and education, are harming our children. (guess what – education is a great distraction!) Emotions and scare-tactics are littering our schools - instead of learning.
We must demand education without politics - (right or left)
Ee as a nation, return to education-based learning. Instead of emotion.
When I was a kid - I never knew the political leanings of any of my teachers.
Democrat ideologs are destroying education with their emotive rage and vile examples and self-absorbed lunacy... including racial, sexual, and gender confusion and indoctrinations. Hey teachers- leave them kids alone.
Smarter children grow up to make smarter decisions. Morality based society - same.
Women are taught in college that they are smarter than men and more educated than men.
So the finance guys get all the whores. Good for them. I prefer to "Love the girl who holds the world in a paper cup"
It's true Achilles, on average women are smarter and more educated than men. It's also true that on average men have more common sense and more experience with the real world than women.
Viva la difference
Damn, that hits home. I quit my job to focus on end-of-life issues for my elderly parents, who passed in 2024. People assume I grieve for my parents. Plot twist: I grieve the loss of my near-perfect job, not the death of my parents (it was time - when you are on the hospice morphine train, in a hospital bed, in diapers...death is a welcome relief). I can't even find volunteer work to scratch that itch. Years of working as a paralegal for demanding attorneys, crushing deadlines, juggling tasks. It stuns me that I miss it. Job hunting as a 64 year old is NOT a pleasant task.
"Now, some social media users are extolling the virtues — with varying degrees of sincerity — of settling for a partner to whom they’re not initially attracted."
Sadly, there are no hacks to achieving the perfect relationship, and unfortunately, it can take decades with the same person until you figure that out.
This is 'new' only in its social media crudeness, as dating has always involved a 3-second glance before (men) make absolute judgements. As noted by the "Gold Diggers of 1933," women can be persuaded to marry Shrek given their attraction to other things.
Female beauty is often only skin deep, and its value fades with time. Women: Grab Shrek before Shrek buys a younger version of you with more good years ahead. Scrub your social media accounts too, as he'll discover your tiny little soul there.
Every man who is not burned by such a woman when young will end up married to such a woman. Hot stoves teach important lessons.
"Job hunting as a 64 year old is NOT a pleasant task."
No, it's not. I was in that position when I was 62 and had pretty much resigned myself to not finding work in my field when I received no responses to any of the job applications I submitted over a number of months.
I moved back to ID (I was in AZ when my job there was eliminated), my previous employer here heard I was available and offered me a job, even knowing I was nearing retirement age. I did retire five years later and then, was rehired by the same company to work on occasional part-time projects a couple of years after that.
All in all, I'm thankful for how things turned out- it could have been much worse.
"Now, some social media users are extolling the virtues — with varying degrees of sincerity — of settling for a partner to whom they’re not initially attracted." The 35+ broad who now finds she needs a man is doing the man she rejected in her 20's a favor as she contemplates on the garden bench the men she will settle for doesn't want to settle for her.
"of settling for a partner to whom they’re not initially attracted. Such a person, the thinking goes, will ultimately treat you better than someone who is more obviously desirable"
How many haven't heard this song?
… If you want to be happy for the rest of your life
Never make a pretty woman your wife
So for my personal point of view
Get an ugly girl to marry you
"on average women are smarter..."
So smart in fact that millions are now ready to settle down because the "poop" star (h/t Mason G) they followed who sensationalized being a single cat lady is getting hitched.
If logic were a tree, they'd be a bush.
"When Did We Get So Cruel to Our Lovers?"
Female writer, then?
“If you want to be happy for the rest of your life
Never make a pretty woman your wife
So for my personal point of view
Get an ugly girl to marry you
A pretty woman makes her husband look small
And very often causes his downfall
As soon as he married her and then she starts
To do the things that will break his heart
But if you make an ugly woman your wife
Ah you'll be happy for the rest of your life
An ugly woman cooks meals on time
She'll always give you peace of mind
If you want to be happy for the rest of your life
Never make a pretty woman your wife
So for my personal point of view
Get an ugly girl to marry you
Don't let your friends say you have no taste
Go ahead and marry anyway
Though her face is ugly, her eyes don't match
Take it from me, she's a better catch”
—— Jimmy Soul
Full disclosure: my wife of 50 years, come January, is beautiful in every aspect.
Dammit, Martin, you beat me to it!
My favorite rendition of this song was performed by Robert Palmer (RIP), as back by Little Feat and a few other stellar musicians…
Let us put man and woman together
And see which one is smarter.
Some say men, but I say no
The women got the men like a puppet show
Ain't me, it's the people that say
The men are leading the women astray
But I say, it's the women today
Are smarter than the man in every way
A little boy sat down and cried
An old man passing asked him why
He said, I can't do what the big boys do
Old man sat down and he cried too
Ain't me, it's the people that say
The men are leading the women astray
But I say, it's the women today
Are smarter than the man in every way
That's right, the women are smarter
That's right, the women are smarter
That's right, the women are smarter
Are smarter than the man in every way
https://youtu.be/EpmbP61Kg68
"Shrekking". That's hilarious. Certainly describes my role in the courtship of my wife.
They also serve who only sit on benches ...
Tall, dark, and handsome. 6-2 with eyes of blue. Nothing about the size of the wallet, but maybe that's implied.
"... on average women are smarter and more educated than men."
Which is why I avoid average women.
Nobody is below average at everything.
Given that the average marriage in the USA lasts eight years, young women would be best off finding older established men, and making sure they ride him to the end. 1) they are more likely to have money 2) you can see how they turned out in life so you can have some assurance what your children might be like. 3) they will generally be so pleased to get you that they will be attentive and easy to get along with. 4) a man of experience should have well-developed oral skills
“First I look at the purse”
—— Peter Wolf
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