"Creativity: Take the obvious, add a cupful of brains, a generous pinch of imagination, a bucketful of courage and daring, stir well and bring to a boil." ~ Bernard M. Baruch
Born in Camden, South Carolina, Wall Street wizard Bernard Mannes Baruch (1870-1965) made brilliant investments and became a self-made millionaire by the time he was 30 years old.
"I will never be an old man. To me, old age is always fifteen years older than I am," he once said.
Obviously, wealthy AND wise.
In seven years (1890-1897) Baruch rose from office boy to part owner of the New York City brokerage house A.A. Housman. As he positioned himself as an expert stock trader and venture capitalist, he became the trusted economic advisor to presidents from Woodrow Wilson to John F. Kennedy.
"Millions saw the apple fall," Baruch observed. "But Newton was the one who asked why." His autobiography, Baruch: My Own Story celebrated his integrity and remarkable success.
Baruch was a catalyst for action. Named chairman of Wilson's War Industries Board (1918), he mobilized Industrial America and also helped Franklin D. Roosevelt draft the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 during the Great Depression.
"Do not look for approval except for the consciousness of doing your best," observed Baruch who in 1946 planned the international control of atomic energy for the United Nation Atomic Energy Commission.
He once reflected, "During my eighty-seven years, I have witnessed a whole succession of technological revolutions. But none of them has done away with the need for character in the individual or the ability to think."
Get the facts, study them patiently, then apply imagination.