Ben Wilson

And all these so-called philosophers who spend their lives locked in a room, reading books and doing nothing else, they can't hold a candle to him. Like he got to be the man, you know, the, the, the swashbuckling pirate living a fun and happy life, and also the great philosopher. And ultimately, some of his critics never got to be either one.

So if that is what you aspire to, to have great insights into the human condition, you can't forget to really live. It reminds me of a great poem called The Scholars by William Butler Yeats. Shout out to Eric Hewitt, who shared this with me. It's very short. It goes like this. Remember, this is called The Scholars. He's describing scholars. He says, "'Bulbheads, forgetful of their sins.'"

So if that is what you aspire to, to have great insights into the human condition, you can't forget to really live. It reminds me of a great poem called The Scholars by William Butler Yeats. Shout out to Eric Hewitt, who shared this with me. It's very short. It goes like this. Remember, this is called The Scholars. He's describing scholars. He says, "'Bulbheads, forgetful of their sins.'"

Old, learned, respectable bald heads edit and annotate the lines that young men tossing on their beds rhymed out in love's despair. To flatter beauty's ignorant ear, they'll cough in the ink to the world's end, wear out the carpet with their shoes, earning respect, have no strange friend. If they have sinned, nobody knows. Lord, what would they say? Did their catalyst walk that way?

Old, learned, respectable bald heads edit and annotate the lines that young men tossing on their beds rhymed out in love's despair. To flatter beauty's ignorant ear, they'll cough in the ink to the world's end, wear out the carpet with their shoes, earning respect, have no strange friend. If they have sinned, nobody knows. Lord, what would they say? Did their catalyst walk that way?

I hope you've enjoyed this episode. I know this is a lesser known figure. Again, those of you who are here at the end of this episode, you're the real ones. You're the real fans. Thank you so much for the support and for bearing with me. I hope you learned something. I know I certainly did. Rochefoucault was an extremely interesting person with an interesting philosophy and a beautiful life.

I hope you've enjoyed this episode. I know this is a lesser known figure. Again, those of you who are here at the end of this episode, you're the real ones. You're the real fans. Thank you so much for the support and for bearing with me. I hope you learned something. I know I certainly did. Rochefoucault was an extremely interesting person with an interesting philosophy and a beautiful life.

And I think his philosophy is a much needed corrective to the positive thinking philosophy that pervades much of the world today and the self-deception that can come with that. So thanks for coming on this journey with me. And until next time, thank you for listening to How to Take Over the World. And of course, one last shout out to Speechify. I used Speechify to do my reading for this episode.

And I think his philosophy is a much needed corrective to the positive thinking philosophy that pervades much of the world today and the self-deception that can come with that. So thanks for coming on this journey with me. And until next time, thank you for listening to How to Take Over the World. And of course, one last shout out to Speechify. I used Speechify to do my reading for this episode.

19th century translations of 17th century works of French literature are not the easiest to read and digest. And I find that listening while I read really helps me comprehend and retain more for my reading. Speechify is the best in the business at text to speech AI. And if you want, you can even listen in my voice. So go to speechify.com slash Ben to get 15% off Speechify premium.

19th century translations of 17th century works of French literature are not the easiest to read and digest. And I find that listening while I read really helps me comprehend and retain more for my reading. Speechify is the best in the business at text to speech AI. And if you want, you can even listen in my voice. So go to speechify.com slash Ben to get 15% off Speechify premium.

You won't regret it.

You won't regret it.

Hello, and welcome to How to Take Over the World. This is Ben Wilson, and this episode is a conversation between myself and David Senra, host of the Founders Podcast. We talk about the most important lessons we have learned from studying history's greatest leaders and founders, what the greatest and most important biographies are that we would recommend to anyone,

Hello, and welcome to How to Take Over the World. This is Ben Wilson, and this episode is a conversation between myself and David Senra, host of the Founders Podcast. We talk about the most important lessons we have learned from studying history's greatest leaders and founders, what the greatest and most important biographies are that we would recommend to anyone,

the power of podcasting, whether anyone has it within themselves to become a founder, whether it's better to be Jeff Bezos or Napoleon, and more. I just re-listened to it, and I think this is a really fun conversation. David is just so engaging, and I think he has really valuable insights. So I think you guys will love this episode.

the power of podcasting, whether anyone has it within themselves to become a founder, whether it's better to be Jeff Bezos or Napoleon, and more. I just re-listened to it, and I think this is a really fun conversation. David is just so engaging, and I think he has really valuable insights. So I think you guys will love this episode.

Special thanks to Sierra for helping make this conversation happen. So without further ado, please enjoy this episode with David Senra. All right, what's up? It's David Senra from Founders Podcast. David, how you doing?

Special thanks to Sierra for helping make this conversation happen. So without further ado, please enjoy this episode with David Senra. All right, what's up? It's David Senra from Founders Podcast. David, how you doing?

Yeah, we talk a lot. You've been super generous to me with your time and with your money, and you've advertised on how to take over the world, which I really appreciate. And we do kind of similar things. So I thought we'd talk a little bit today about just the stuff that we always talk about, right? Which is we've got podcasts about people who achieve great things and how they do it.