Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Proverbs 310. The proverb today is don't put all your eggs in
one basket. Okay. If somebody wants a screenshot, do it right now. Let's get right to it. If someone
says don't put all your eggs in one basket, it basically means don't risk everything or
all your money effort etc. on just one thing because if it turns out not to be successful,
you may lose everything at once or suffer so much damage that it would be difficult to
recover from. Okay. Let's continue. The origin is often attributed to Cervantes in "Don Quixote"
because that is one of the earliest citations. Here is the quote. "It is the part of a wise man
to keep himself today for tomorrow and not venture. " You know , not risk. "not venture
all his eggs in one basket. " Okay. Although some dispute this was the origin. So be some think that
the idea might have been around before that. The idea is if the basket is dropped all the
eggs could break or be broken all at once or at least most of them would be. The idea was around
earlier though. So even though it wasn't about eggs in a basket, it was the same sort of idea
and used to be expressed as trusting all one's goods in one ship was not a good idea. Yeah.
Remember, back at this time shipping was the main form of business and a lot of ships went out. And
sometimes the ship didn't come back. It could have got lost in a storm. It could have got attacked by
pirates. So if you put all your money just in one ship and then that ship never comes back
well you just lost all your money. You lost all your investments. So it's the same sort of idea.
All right. Let's continue. The proverb does sound logical and is often used by investment advisors.
However, there is some truth to a Mark Twain quote in which he contradicted this idea in his story
"Pudd'Head Wilson. I think it was Pudd'Head Wilson calendar. Here is the quote. The fool saith
meaning "The fool says put not all thy eggs in one basket. " Meaning like you know, like, but he's
actually saying this is a foolish thing. "Which is a manner of saying" Which is a way of saying.
"Scatter all your money and your attention. " Yeah you know, I've I earlier had invested in
some stocks i know people that invest in stocks and you know they often say you know, make sure
you diversify and get a portfolio. The problem is is not everybody has a lot of knowledge about so
many different areas and even though you could do research. You could do your homework. But it still
doesn't. Still, still it's maybe not good enough. You might not really have a good feel on all these
stocks you're investing in. But on the other hand, you might know about one or two you might
know this area maybe you've worked in this area. You study this area. Remember that's even Warren
Buffett always says invest in what you know. So sometimes when you put all your eggs and you don't
put all your eggs in one basket you diversify. It's hard to have knowledge about all these other
areas. So that's the point here. All right. Let's continue. "But the wise men say put all your eggs
in one basket and watch that basket" So that's the point. So he's saying yeah. Well you should put
them all in one basket, but just pay attention to it. Watch it closely. Now of course. I have seen
that some people also dispute that Mark Twain said this. And some people think Andrew Carnegie you
know, the famous wealthy businessman and investor. I think some people say that he said this. I think
maybe when he was giving a speech to college students graduating or something like that.
So but no matter who said it. It's a good point. That it's ... there's there's also some truth to
this. I mean I understand both points. Both points are good. So you might want to think of both..
All right. Let's continue. But here is just the way... We got three examples of just the way you
hear this phrase used. Here's the first one. Many investment advisors tell their clients,
don't put all your eggs in one basket. You must diversify. That's what they mean. You got to
spread it out. Just in case there's a crash or you're wrong on this stock. You know like
if something happens to this part of the economy. You invest in this other stock that you know might
actually go up as this one goes down. That's the idea. That then it's supposed to protect you more.
All right. Of course though, if you listen to your business analyst and you invest in a lot
of things. You diversify then you need him more. You need his advice more because maybe he might be
able to you know that's his job. All the time. He might be able to to understand more of you know,
what areas to be in. All right. Number two. I know you really want to be an actor,
but it is a tough field to make it in. You need to learn other skills to fall back on. Don't put all
your eggs in one basket. So we can say this with like a career , especially if it's a career where
there's a lot of people that try out, but a lot of people don't make it. Just like acting. There's a
lot of struggling actors that you know, do this for 10 or 20 years and they never get ahead. They're,
they're always starving they're always behind. Sometimes they need people to lend them money
and you waste a lot of years of your life if it doesn't work out. So somebody might advise you
that way too. In the same sense, you're putting all your hopes on just this one career. All right.
Number three. I know your heart is set on that college, but you need to apply to other colleges
as a backup. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Yeah. What if this one college
rejects you. What if you don't get accepted to that. Then you you didn't apply to any others.
Then you might miss some terms( spring term or fall term). Miss some time. So you should apply
to some others as a backup as well. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Okay. Anyway. I hope you
got it. I hope it was clear. I hope it's very informative. Thank you for your time. Bye-bye.