[ExI] well, that stuff really is expensive

[John Clark]

On Thu, Oct 22, 2026 at 7:53 AM Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

*> I've done some extremely stupid things.*


*Yeah, I **once made a mistake, or rather I thought I had but it turned out
I was mistaken**.  *


*John K Clark*





On 22/10/2026 12:27, John K Clark wrote:
> > When Ulysses S Grant was a boy he wanted to buy a neighbor’s colt, his
> father agreed he could try to buy it but told him to offer $20 first, raise
> it to $22.50 if refused, and go up to the full asking price of $25 as a
> last resort. Grant rode right up to the owner and blurted out: "Papa says I
> may offer you twenty dollars for the colt, but if you won't take that, I am
> to offer twenty-two and a half, and if you won't take that, to give you
> twenty-five". The owner of course immediately took the full $25, and the
> story became a joke around the village and the local boys teased him about
> it for years.
>
>
> It's not fair to judge someone based on a single incident like that. We
> all do stupid things, I've done some extremely stupid things. The point is
> whether we learn from them or not. When someone continues to do stupid
> things their entire life, then fine, they should be judged on that.
>
> I don't know much about Ulysses Grant, but I very much doubt he is
> comparable to Trump. He did become a general after all (implying at least
> some ability), and not only that but he actually won a war.
> --
> Ben
> "The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who
> watch them without doing anything." - Pablo Casals, via Albert Einstein
>
> ___
>
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