Pillow Book of Talmud Wisdom

Chapter 16 Leave a Bowl of Food for Others—Jews on Offensive and Defensive Measures (1)
In the fierce market competition, Jews not only succeed by virtue of their shrewdness, but more importantly, they know how to strike a balance between offense and defense, so as to make themselves invincible while obtaining the maximum benefit.

As the Jews say: You must remember to leave a bowl of rice for others at any time.

defensive debtor

For example, if you ask whether there are more "people who want to lend money to others" or "people who want to lend money", the Jewish businessman will definitely tell you that there are more "people who want to lend money to others".Most people think that there are more "people who want to borrow money", but the opposite is true.The reason why Jewish businessmen like to open banks, especially investment banks, issue stocks, etc., is to identify most people's desire to "lend money to others" and borrow other people's money to make a fortune.

For another example, if you can’t repay the money after borrowing it, is the debtor in a hurry or the creditor in a hurry?Most people think that the debtor is in a hurry and is afraid that the vicious creditors will come to demand.The Jewish merchant would reply that the creditor is more anxious than the debtor.

There's a Jewish joke that goes like this.Yakov lent Arthur $500.It's due tomorrow, but Arthur doesn't even have fifty cents on him.Yakov kept reminding Arthur three days ago, how many days are left to pay back the money. "Tomorrow, Yakov will definitely come to ask for money."Thinking of this, Arthur felt restless and couldn't fall asleep at all. He kept walking up and down the room like a beast in an iron cage.

"Why don't you go to bed?" asked his wife.

"I borrowed money from Yakov, and I must pay it back tomorrow morning."

"Do you have any money on you?"

"I don't have a dime yet."

"In this case, go to sleep! Yakov should be the one who can't sleep all night, not you."

The words of Jacob and his wife actually represent the general views of Jewish businessmen.

There is indeed nothing to fear when the debtor is penniless.The money has already been used, and it has already been used up. This in itself is not wronged, and it is still someone else's money, so there is no disadvantage at all.

No matter how fierce the debt collector is, he can't be so cruel to the debtor who has no money, because Jewish merchants have no habit of demanding people's lives to pay off debts.This kind of approach is too bad. It is not worthwhile to write off a debt while taking someone else's life that is worthless to me.Even if there is a lawsuit, it is still a question of whether the money can be recovered, and the cost and time must be paid.Therefore, once a debt relationship is formed, the creditor is in a passive position, always worrying about whether the money will be returned.The day they learn that the debtor has gone bankrupt, they will naturally be the most troubled.Because of this reason, there is an unspoken rule in the financial world that the most difficult thing to get a loan is the first loan. At this juncture, the bank needs to think again and again whether it will "worry" about this debtor in the future. It is established that if the business is not doing well, it is the bank that is most active in lending to the business to make it turn around.No reason, just to prevent this first loan from being unable to recover even the principal with interest.

People like to lend money to others, but after lending money, they will fall into a purely passive position. This is always a dilemma in the relationship between lending and lending.Of course, mortgage loans can be used for large loans, but it is impossible for some small and large loans in daily transactions to be handled in the form of mortgages.In real life, the most cunning scammers are those who specialize in defrauding such small loans, which makes you feel distressed for throwing them away for nothing, and it is inconvenient and uneconomical to deal with negotiations and lawsuits, which is a dilemma.

Jewish businessmen have experienced a lot in the business field, so they will inevitably encounter similar troubles. How to solve them is the best way to solve them.

There is a story that goes like this.Messick, a clothier, wholesaled 1200 marks of cloth to Croyan, a cloth merchant, but never paid for it.Croyan called the clerk to collect the bill several times.

Messick slipped away every time and avoided seeing him; he sent him a reminder, but Messick ignored it.For this reason, Croyan was helpless and sighed repeatedly.

At this time, a new clerk said to him:
"I have a secret recipe for debt collection. You might as well write a reminder letter to Messick first, asking him to repay the 1800 mark debt as soon as possible, and see how he responds before making plans."

Croyan followed the clerk's advice and sent a letter to Messick.

Sure enough, only two days later, Messick wrote back, saying:
"Kroyan, you bastard, you must be out of your mind. I clearly only approved 1200 marks of goods, why did you blackmail me for 1800 marks? Attached is 1200 marks, and I will never come to you to approve goods again —Are you going to sue? You will lose.”

Is it necessary for Croyan to go to court with him?
The clerk's secret recipe for debt collection is actually a very clever offensive tactic.Originally, Croyan was indeed on the pure defensive, and the initiative was not in his hands at all. As long as Messick avoided seeing him, Croyan had nothing to do with him.It is not always necessary to go to court for 1200 marks.

But on the other hand, it can be seen from Messick’s avoidance that he still admits to the debt, and just wants to delay the repayment, rather than completely renege on the debt.This gave the clerk a psychological basis for his plan of blackmail: Messick, who was in arrears with 1200 marks and did not pay back, could sit back and relax, let Croyan worry alone, and let him be busy first if he wanted to file a lawsuit. Return it to him with no additional loss.

And now 1200 marks suddenly became 1800 marks.This is why Messick can’t come out to make an excuse, because still ignoring it like a reminder note means acquiescing to the bills issued by Croyan. Mark is in trouble, let alone 1200 marks in arrears.Originally, I wanted to take advantage of others, how could I let others take advantage of it?Messick, who had reasoned, had to make it clear, but in this way, Messick, who was originally active, became a purely passive person, and he could no longer avoid it.As soon as he showed up, 1200 marks showed up.Because Jewish businessmen generally seldom have the habit of telling lies.

Save each other's face at all times
Others may really be wrong, but they themselves don't think so.Or, even though he knew he was wrong, he still hoped to be respected enough.So don't blame them because that's what fools do.Try to understand them, only a truly wise, tolerant person can do this.

When a person makes a mistake, it is often not because he does not know that he is making a mistake, but because he wants to make a mistake.Publicity and education are basically ineffective for those who want to make mistakes.There are two ways to prevent mistakes, one is to make people dare not make mistakes, and the other is to make people not want to make mistakes.The former is a means of coercion, with quick results but hard to convince people; the latter is a communication art, with slow results and long-lasting force.For a person to be truly responsible for his actions depends on the awakening of his self-esteem and conscience.Well, first of all, we must try to help him save face, lest he give up on himself.

There is a kind of man with a wild and violent temper, who can make anything as unforgivable as a heinous crime.They do this not out of a momentary rage, but out of their own nature.They condemn everyone, either for something the man has done, or for something he will do.It revealed a temperament worse than cruelty, which was really the worst.They criticize others so exaggeratedly that they can make a problem the size of a sesame seed the size of a watermelon and thereby negate it altogether.They are ruthless foremen who can turn paradise into a prison.In a fit of rage, they push everything to the extreme.

What are the benefits of doing this?Others lose face, and he gets resentment.

A wise man never approaches a problem in this way. He puts the other person's self-esteem first, and only then tries to turn things around for the better.

One day at noon, when a boss went to the factory for a routine inspection, he saw some employees smoking under a "No Smoking" sign.There is nothing more abominable than knowingly committing a crime, this is the opinion of most people.This boss is not as sensitive as most people.He walked up to the workers, handed each of them a cigarette, and said, "Boys, I'd really appreciate it if you could smoke outside."

The boys naturally knew that they had violated the factory regulations.But instead of blaming them, the boss gave everyone a cigarette.Their self-esteem is respected, they are treated as human beings, and of course behave like human beings.Therefore, there are no more people who openly smoke in the factory.

When a person makes a mistake, he can often find hundreds of reasons to defend himself, one of the most commonly used reasons is: "If it were you, it might not be better than me." Thoughts, no matter how much you say, he won't be convinced.At this time, the most effective persuasion is to teach by precept and example, and show him what you ask him to do well.

Kaoru Iue, a big Japanese entrepreneur and the founder of Sanyo, likes employees who follow the rules and are dedicated.And he himself absolutely abides by the company's rules and regulations and is diligent and dedicated, and he will never give half a discount just because he is the boss.For example, he arrives at the company on time at 7:[-] every morning, and his accuracy rate is higher than that of the alarm clock, and for decades, there is absolutely no error unless he is on a business trip.He himself is so self-disciplined that there is almost no employee in his company who is not diligent and dedicated and abides by the rules.

Bill?Gates appreciates smart and motivated employees, but he doesn't lie comfortably in bed every day and force employees to work overtime.In the first ten years of his business, like ordinary employees, he worked 16 hours a day, lay down on the floor when he was tired, took a nap, woke up and got up to continue working.

A person who can do what he advocates is more convincing than what he has said ten thousand times.

(End of this chapter)