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Here's One Way Of Understanding Why Some People Kill Themselves

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Robin Williams

Many people grieved after hearing about the apparent suicide of Robin Williams.

Fox News anchor Shepard Smith was less understanding.

"It's hard to imagine, isn’t it?" he asked the camera, wondering how Williams could love his children "and yet, something inside you is so horrible or you’re such a coward or whatever the reason that you decide that you have to end it.”

Smith's labeling of suicide as a decision reveals a misunderstanding — or nonunderstanding — of the what-it feels-like experience of a suicidal person, the vast majority of whom are clinically depressed.

Research psychologist Jesse Bering helps correct that perspective.

"In considering people’s motivations for killing themselves, it is essential to recognize that most suicides are driven by a flash flood of strong emotions, not rational, philosophical thoughts in which the pros and cons are evaluated critically," he writes for Scientific American in a heartfelt post, one that combines others' research with a discussion of his own suicidal years.

To Bering, the best (but not only) model of what that flash flood feels like comes from Florida State psychologist Roy Baumeister and his 1990 Psychology Review paper "Suicide as Escape from the Self."

This model isn't the only explanation of what leads to suicide — a study in Psychological Review lists a documented suite of risk factors — but Baumeister's theory offers one way to understand some of the thoughts and emotions that might play a role.

Before we dive in, we must emphasize that suicide is never inevitable: books like Jon Kabat-Zinn's "The Mindful Way Through Depression" can help people find a way out of chronic unhappiness, and the National Suicide Prevention Hotline can be reached at 1-800-273-8255 if you or someone you know needs to talk.

With that said, let's look into Baumeister's model of the sequence of cognitive patterns that may lead to a suicide.

1. Failing to meet your standards for yourself

An outwardly privileged life is no protection from suicidal thoughts.

In fact, Bering reports, suicide rates are:

• Higher in nations with a high standard of living

• Higher in countries that "endorse individual freedoms"

• Higher in areas with nicer weather

• Higher among college kids "that have better grades and parents with higher expectations"

It's these expectations that can sometimes create suicide-driving suffering, Bering says. If you've had a privileged life, then you'll be more fragile when disappointments arrive.

You can see it in the research. Baumeister says a large body of evidence suggests "suicide is preceded by events that fall short of high standards and expectations."

For instance:

• Being poor all your life doesn't predict suicide. But going from wealth to poverty does.

• Being single all your life doesn't predict suicide. But going from being married to being single does.

Therein lies the seed.

"The size of the discrepancy between standards and perceived reality" is crucial to the start of the suicidal process, Baumeister says.

The Germans have a word for it: weltschmerz, the pain of realizing the world isn't matching your ideals.

2. Condemning yourself for failing to meet those standards

It's not just that suicidal people have a low self-esteem, Baumeister finds. Rather, they may see themselves as fundamentally flawed in comparison to everybody else.

And some people hate themselves for it.

Bering details the meta-cognitive tailspin that may precede suicide:

Across cultures, "self blame" or "condemnation of the self" has held constant as a common denominator in suicides...

Feelings of worthlessness, shame, guilt, inadequacy, or feeling exposed, humiliated and rejected leads suicidal people to dislike themselves in a manner that, essentially, cleaves them off from an idealized humanity.

To Bering, the way that a sense of exile sometimes leads to suicide is most palpable in the lives of people with minority sexual orientations: if society tells you there's something fundamentally wrong with you all your life, you're more vulnerable to wanting to take your own life.

3. Feeling painfully self-aware

Suicidal people may be extremely aware of themselves and how they seem to be failing, according to Bering.

"The essence of self-awareness is comparison of self with standards," Baumeister writes.

And, according to his escape theory, this ceaseless and unforgiving comparison with a preferred self often fuels suicidal ideation. The suicidal person might view this preferred self as somebody from a happier past or a goal self who is now seen as impossible to achieve in light of recent events.

Suicidal people, in other words, are often trying to escape these selves they so dislike — in any way possible.

4. Experiencing "negative affect," or extremely difficult emotions

Suicide is neither the result of a single "trigger event" nor continuous anxiety, according to Baumeister.

Instead, "suicide rates are clearly associated with [perceived] personal failure and painful discovery of one's inadequacies," Baumeister writes, "with loss of family through death or divorce, with loss of membership in a community or an occupational group, and with loss of culture." Meanwhile, a mental illness like clinical depression will simultaneously dull positive experiences while deepening the sting of every negative one.

Some people, Baumeister suggests, may start considering suicide after some sort of negative shift in the way they view their identity, and suicide is seen as a means of escape from that painful experience of the self.

5. Trying to avoid meaningful thoughts

The mental lives of suicidal people are considerably different than the cognition of someone mentally healthy. Suicidal people may engage in "cognitive deconstruction," where they escape from feeling bad by avoiding meaningful thought. Another way to phrase cognitive deconstruction: it all just doesn't matter.

Baumeister summarizes the collapsing process:

The time perspective narrows drastically to the present, presumably in response to the anxious recall of past events. The future is denied, and long-term plans or goals are either completely absent or conceptualized in unrealistic, irrational terms; however, more evidence that distal goals are absent in the suicidal person's thinking is needed. Suicidal thinking is very concrete, focusing on immediate tasks and details. The person enters a cognitively rigid state, avoiding new ideas, thoughts, or interpretations.

This "deconstruction" shows up in surprising ways.

In one study, suicidal people drastically overestimated the passage of time, showing that feeling suicidal is somewhat like being bored — the "present seems endless and vaguely unpleasant," Baumeister writes.

There's also often attempt to absorb oneself in rote work as a way of escaping these crippling feelings. Bering reports that many suicidal college students "exhibit a behavioral pattern of burying themselves in dull, routine academic busywork in the weeks before" before attempting to kill themselves.

6. Dis-inhibition

"Most people most of the time would not even consider killing themselves," Baumeister writes, "for reasons that may include laws, desires for self-preservation, internalized social norms, feelings of obligation to others, and expectations for future happiness. These long-term (high-level) inhibiting factors must be overcome in order for the person to attempt suicide."

Thus the need for dis-inhibition: in some way, these often abstract or future-thinking factors may have to be sidestepped for someone to go through with suicide. Baumeister notes that this might be why alcohol is so often linked with suicide, since being drunk lowers inhibitions.

Similarly, recent research suggests that people need an "acquired capability for suicide" to actually go through with it.

The capability comes by being habituated to harm.

"Physical or sexual abuse as a child, combat exposure, and domestic abuse can also 'prep' the individual for the physical pain associated with suicidal behavior," Bering writes, noting how specific the preparation can be. "For example, a study on suicides in the U.S. military branches found that guns were most frequently associated with Army personnel suicides, hanging and knots for those in the Navy, and falling and heights were more common for those in the Air Force."

What can all this tell us about the death of Robin Williams?

Hard to say, since we don't have access to the great comic's mind. But Baumeister and Bering's research into suicide can help us be more aware of some of the mental patterns — often present in mental illness — that may lead people away from seeing the meaningfulness of their own lives.

To that end, we'll allow Bering — a psychologist who struggled with suicidal impulses in his younger years — to have the last word:

I do hope that if you ever are unfortunate enough to experience these cognitive dynamics in your own mind — and I, for one, very much have — or if you suspect you're seeing behaviors in others that indicate these thought patterns may be occurring, that this information helps you to meta-cognitively puncture suicidal ideation. If there is one thing that I've learned since those very dark days of my suicidal years, it’s that scientific knowledge changes perspective. And perspective changes everything. Everything.

Special thanks to Scott Barry Kaufman, who tipped us to the Bering piece in the first place.

SEE ALSO: How 14 Things That Happened To You In Childhood Shape You As An Adult

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12 Robin Williams Quotes On Life And Laughter

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robin williams zelda williams

Robin Williams died Monday night, leaving lasting films like "Good Morning Vietnam, "Mrs. Doubtfire," "Good Will Hunting," and "Aladdin."

The response to his death has been overwhelming.

James Lipton, the great interviewer of actors, said that Williams was one of a kind

"His gift was the most mysterious of all gifts," Lipton said. "It was genius. Genius is inexplicable. ... You can teach craft. You can teach technique. You can't teach genius."

See inside the mind of a genius through his own words. Here are a dozen of Williams' most inspirational quotes. 

On his favorite impersonation

"Oh my god, Jack Nicholson. He once was with me at a benefit and leaned over and said 'even oysters have enemies.' In a very intense voice. I responded with, 'Increase your dosage.'

"Dana Carvey does my personal favorite impression of myself. It's accurate. And kind."

[Reddit AMA, 2013]



On wonder

"My children give me a great sense of wonder. Just to see them develop into these extraordinary human beings. And a favorite book as a child? Growing up, it was 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe' — I would read the whole C.S. Lewis series out loud to my kids. I was once reading to Zelda, and she said 'don't do any voices. Just read it as yourself.' So I did, I just read it straight, and she said 'that's better.'" 

[Reddit AMA, 2013]



On raising kids

"Everyone has these two visions when they hold their child for the first time. The first is your child as an adult saying, 'I want to thank the Nobel Committee for this award.' The other is, 'You want fries with that?'"

[RV: Runaway Vacation, 2006]



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9 Crazy Tales From The Wild And Wonderful Life Of Richard Branson

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Richard Branson may be the most exciting, daredevil entrepreneur the world has ever seen.

And he's gone to some amazing lengths to bring attention to his companies and causes over the years - doing things most of us would never consider. 

Produced By Matt Johnston.

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The 25 Best Cities For Working Parents

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Juggling a career and a family isn't easy. Yet, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, a majority of parents in the U.S. today are attempting to do it.

Approximately 88% of U.S. families with children have one parent in the workforce, and 58% have two working parents.

Knowing that, Business Insider partnered up with personal finance site NerdWallet to find the best cities for those with two jobs: employee and parent.

Our analysis focuses on affordability (median income and housing costs), childcare costs, school quality, and the community (percentage of households with children) in the 100 largest U.S. cities.

Cities for Working Parents

Gilbert, Arizona, ranks No. 1 with an overall score of 72.5.

NerdWallet analyst Divya Raghavan says the Phoenix suburb has transformed itself from the "Hay Shipping Capital of the World" to a diverse suburban center in recent years. "With moderate costs and a high median household income, Gilbert offers affordability and also high-quality schools," she says. Almost 77% of households in Gilbert include children.

Following close behind in the No. 2 spot is Plano, Texas, with a score of 67.4.

Located in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, Plano is home to the corporate headquarters of Dell Services, Toyota Motors, J.C. Penney, and Siemens PLM Software. NerdWallet found that Plano has a high median income, average childcare costs, and high quality public schools.

Rounding out the top three is Chandler, Arizona — another Phoenix suburb.

"Chandler's strong economy is partly due to the presence of Intel, which is the city's largest employer," says Raghavan. "Chandler has a low cost of living, which makes life easier for working parents. Incomes are high in the city as well."

The Southwest snagged a total of eight of the top 10 spots on our list largely because of the relatively low cost of living.

"Working parents want to live in a city where their children are set up for success and where their hard-earned dollar stretches far," Raghavan says. "As parents are planning for their children's education and their own retirement, they have to make decisions now that will affect the rest of their lives."

SEE ALSO: The 20 Best Jobs For Work-Life Balance

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Business Insider Is Looking For A Paid Lists Intern This Fall

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business insider group shotBusiness Insider is looking for a paid intern to work on our Lists team.

BI Lists interns spend their time researching and writing our big signature lists and features, like the Best Colleges, Sexiest CEOs, and Coolest Small Businesses In America. You'll get an author byline for every post you write. 

We’re looking for someone who is smart, organized, and a meticulous researcher. You should be comfortable conducting in-depth research on everything from the coolest small businesses in cities around the world to the most impressive students at top universities. 

This person should be comfortable working on a variety of subjects and juggling multiple projects at a time. You'd get the opportunity to work with all our verticals, so we welcome candidates with diverse interests.

As for qualifications, a journalism background and experience writing for a news site always helps, as do copy-editing skills and light HTML and Photoshop experience. Knowledge of social media and previous writing experience are both useful, too.

APPLY HERE with a resume and cover letter if interested, and specify why you're interested in working on Lists.

Please note that this internship requires that you work in our Manhattan office. The internship term runs for approximately six months, with some flexibility on start and end dates. Interns are encouraged to work full-time (40 hours a week) if their schedule allows.

SEE ALSO: Business Insider Is Now Hiring Paid Fall Interns

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How One Entrepreneur Quit His Job In Entertainment To Make Jerky For A Living

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tim_jivejerkyThis post is sponsored by Spark Business from Capital One

Quitting your job to open up your own business is risky. Quitting your job to open up a business that only sells jerky ... well, that's even riskier. But for people like Tim O'Grady of Jive Jerky, throwing caution to the wind is what being a small-business owner is all about.

"I opened this store and thought, this might be really good, or it’ll be really, really bad," O'Grady says. "But I'm never going to know unless I try."

A year later, Jive Jerky has become a staple among the roughly 2,000 residents of Moscow, Pennsylvania, who can't seem to get enough of O'Grady's homemade jerky. With dozens of beef and pork options to choose from, the store has seen a huge demand for its niche product, both online and offline.

We interviewed O'Grady as part of our Fast Track Q&A series in which we're asking various small-business owners 11 questions about their professional and personal inspirations. O'Grady shared with us his days of being a lazy ice cream boy, his gift of gab, and which eccentric entrepreneur he most admires. Read more in the series »

Interview conducted by Business Insider Studios and edited for clarity and length.

BI Studios: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Tim O'Grady: The starting quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. My love for beer and my distaste for exercise has really put a damper on those plans. 

How did you get the idea for your business?

I started making jerky with my father when I was a kid. It was just something that we did on the weekends. I spent years as a touring musician and then eventually worked in corporate consulting with an entertainment company for festivals and tours. I got to the point where I didn’t want to be away from home anymore, so I decided to start my own business and plant roots. And that's how I ended up opening Jive Jerky.

How did you pick the name for your business?

As with most things with this company, ideas come from sitting around the table with friends and family, having a couple beers, and just spitting stuff out. It’s sort of one of those things that came out. I thought it was funny and felt it rolled off the tongue easy enough, so it just sort of stuck. 

What is the biggest risk you've taken in your career?

I'd have to say this whole entire endeavor, because there wasn’t really anything to gauge before starting this business. It wasn’t as if I was opening up a pizza shop and knew who my competitors were and could base my business off of what they were doing. There’s no competition where I’m at, which is an awesome thing, but it’s also kind of scary. Because I'm the only one, I'm left figuring it out as I go, as opposed to looking at what other people have done and trying to improve on that.

What’s the strangest request you’ve ever gotten from a customer?

It always revolves around making some kind of weird jerky. We offer 30 flavors of beef and about five or six flavors of pork. As far as jerky, it’s a pretty wide selection. But we’ll always get somebody who asks if we have alligator or ostrich jerky. We don’t make exotic meats like that — beef and pork is good enough for me. 

What is your greatest talent, professional or otherwise?

My ability to talk to customers. We’re selling a product and all, but a big part of that is that people are able to come in and talk for a couple minutes. Being able to be friendly with people is important. It’s different because we’re in such a small town and you can get to know a lot of people very quickly. I feel like the whole world would be a lot better off if it moved just a little bit slower and people were a little more friendly. People being able to come in and hang out for a minute and ask questions and get a friendly response back has really benefited us.

What’s the first job you ever had?

The first job I ever had was selling ice cream when I was 14 or 15 years old. In the neighborhood that we lived in, there was an ice cream stand at the local swimming pool and the beach. People were always at the pool and nobody was at the beach, so I would always request the beach location and I could fall asleep in the 6-foot chest freezer they kept in the back filled with ice cream.

What's the weirdest job you've ever had?

When I was in high school, I worked as a telemarketer for about three weeks. I think we were selling time shares. I worked with my best friend and we sat next to each other. This was probably the only telemarketing place that gave you a phone where you could dial out, so all we did was make prank phone calls all day. I lasted three weeks before they fired me. It’s the only job I’ve ever been fired from. 

Which entrepreneur or business personality do you most admire?

I’d say the person that’s been the most fascinating to me in my lifetime has been Howard Hughes. It just seemed like whatever that guy put his mind to he could accomplish, and he made incredible things. Not to compare our jerky to anything Howard Hughes has done. Building military jets is a little bit different than making salty jerky.

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

I guess I'd want to be able to make everybody who's miserable and who has an awful attitude happy. That way, I wouldn’t have to deal with them. It’s purely a selfish reason. It’s not because I want them to be happy. It’s just because I don’t want to have to deal with them. 

What advice would you give to an aspiring small-business owner?

Just go out and do it. You can spend your whole life trying to plan something out, thinking about the best way to go about it, before you realize the years have slipped by and you never did it. Just go out and start it. If it fails, it fails. But at least you went out and tried.

Find out more about Sponsor Posts.

SEE ALSO: This Nashville Restaurant Owner Supports Bands And Charities By Selling Pizza

SEE ALSO: More Fast Track Q&A

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Architects Explain What Makes Panasonic's New Headquarters So Cool

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panasonic officeLast summer, Panasonic Corporation of North America moved into a glassy, eco-friendly headquarters in Newark, New Jersey.

The move was a big upgrade for the company, which went from a poorly organized, cubicle-filled office to an open floor plan in a 12-story building that's on its way to LEED Platinum certification. 

"We used to be in Secaucus in a building that felt like a maze. It would be a 10 to 15 minute walk between buildings, and you would almost get lost," Todd Rytting, CTO of Panasonic North America, told Business Insider. "Now I run into people much more frequently than I ever did before, just because of the foot traffic."

With interiors designed by architectural firm HLW, the building looks great and has ecological features including Tesla charging stations, solar panels, as well as an Innovation Center where visitors can see Panasonic products. 

HLW shared photos of the office and commentary from the architects, which we've lightly edited and published in the following slides.

After four decades in a corporate campus in Secaucus, N.J., Panasonic Corporation of North America recently moved its headquarters next to the Newark Penn Station transit hub.



The building is located near several prominent institutions, including the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Rutgers University. This helps drive recruiting and nurtures other invaluable connections within the community.



With easy access to trains, buses, and bicycle routes, 40% of employees now use mass transit to commute, up from slightly less than 5% from Panasonic’s former headquarters in Secaucus, NJ. The target goal is 80% of employees commuting via mass transit.



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16 Traits Of The World's Most Successful People

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Sheryl Sandberg

When the young journalist Napoleon Hill interviewed the industrialist Andrew Carnegie in 1908, Carnegie liked Hill so much that he decided he would share all of the strategies that turned him from a penniless immigrant into the richest man in the world.

From that point forward, Hill dedicated his career to understanding the work ethics of highly successful people like Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, collecting them into his own philosophy and then packaging it into articles, books, and lectures for regular people wanting to achieve more in life. His 1937 book "Think and Grow Rich" is one of the bestselling books of all time.

Before he began writing books, Hill ran two magazines with articles that provided the foundation for his most famous work. In the inaugural April 1921 issue of Napoleon Hill's Magazine, Hill wrote about "The Magic Ladder to Success," an essay based on a speech he gave on a tour of the U.S. and would later adapt into a full-length book in 1930. We found it in "Napoleon Hill's First Editions: From the Napoleon Hill Archives."

After spending 12 years analyzing "more than 12,000 men and women," both successful entrepreneurs and ordinary people, Hill determined 16 elements of exceptional leaders that anyone can practice:

1. They have a definite aim in life.

Hill likens having just a vague aim to succeed to being a ship without a rudder. "Bear in mind that both your definite aim and your plan for attaining it may be modified form time to time... The important thing for you to do now is to learn the significance of working always with a definite aim in view, and always with a definite plan," Hill writes.

2. They are self-confident.

To be capable of setting ambitious goals, you need to believe you can follow the plans to achieve them. And when you believe in yourself, others tend to believe in you as well.

3. They show initiative.

The only way to rise up the corporate hierarchy or to develop your own business is to to look for other things to accomplish once you've fulfilled your regular duties.

4. They are imaginative.

A lack of the driving force of initiative and the creative power of imagination is "the main reason why 95% of the adult people of the world have no definite aim in life, which, in turn, is also the reason why this same 95% constitute the followers in life," Hill says.

5. They are active.

You may have earned multiple degrees from elite universities and have read history's most important books, but none of it means anything if you don't turn knowledge into action.

6. They are enthusiastic.

Do what you love, Hill says, or else you will lack the energy to become truly successful.

7. They practice self-control.

Hill says that he did not start to become successful until he learned that he was working against himself whenever he gave into anger or arrogance. "No person ever became a great leader of others until he first learned to lead himself, through self-control," he writes.

8. They go beyond what's required of them.

The most successful people outperform their competition, and when they make it to the top, they compete with themselves.

9. They are incredibly likable.

When you are charismatic and foster relationships with others, you build a network of people who are willing to help you without your asking.

10. They know how to separate truth from bias.

Because their actions have ramifications for other people, leaders understand that they cannot take what they hear or read at face value, and learn how to pluck truth from others' worldviews.

11. They are focused.

Successful people are able to concentrate their energy and skills toward specific goals without becoming distracted by irrelevant issues.

12. They are persistent.

Those who are able to achieve success are not stopped by the inevitable nonstop challenges and setbacks that are in their path to attaining their goals.

13. They are resilient.

"When you begin to realize that failure is a necessary part of one's education, you will no longer look upon it with fear, and lo! the first thing you know, there will be no more failures!" Hill writes. "No person ever arose from the knockout blow of defeat without being a stronger and wiser human being in one respect or another."

14. They are sympathetic.

In "Think and Grow Rich," Hill writes that it's not a coincidence that history is filled with tyrants and dictators being overthrown. The most successful leaders work in harmony with their team, not in dominion over them.

15. They work hard.

Hill says that this sounds simple enough, but it's important to remember that even if you achieve your greatest goal, you need to continue pushing yourself or risk losing everything you worked for.

16. They are empathetic.

Hill's favorite philosophical maxim is The Golden Rule, which states, "Treat others the way you would like to be treated." He uses it as the final rung of the ladder to true success. Hill writes:

The Golden Rule acts as a barrier to all of man's tendencies toward the destructive use of power that comes from developing the other qualities outlined in this ladder. It is the thing that antidotes the harm man could do without knowledge and power; the thing that guides man to the intelligent, constructive use of those qualities he develops from the use of the rungs of this ladder.

SEE ALSO: 9 Subtle Things Leaders Do That Show They Have Integrity

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Three Quick Steps To Improve Your Signature

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Hand signing a document signature

In many ways, a signature is like a fingerprint: Each one is a completely unique identifier.

But if your signature is more Jacob Lew than John Hancock, don't fear  it's possible to improve your autograph in a few quick steps, according to calligraphy expert Laura Hooper of Laura Hooper Calligraphy.

1. Find A Font You Like

The first step is deciding what kind of style you want. Angular and jagged? Loopy and old-school? Search around online for calligraphy, fonts, and different type faces that appeal to you. Keep track of your favorites and print out their letter samples.

“I usually find fonts I like online at MyFonts.com,” Hooper said. “You can also get inspiration from books and calligraphy stores.” 

2. Practice Only The Capital Letters

Now that you have a font you like, focus on the first letter of both your first and last names to practice.

“For my name it would be L and H,” Hooper explained. “The capitals are what make a signature what it is. Think back to elementary school when you were writing your name over and over again and practice these two letters in the different fonts you like. Find your favorite, and try to do it the same way every time.”

Once you have the capital letters down, the rest of your signature can be more fluid and abstract.

3. Write Your New Signature Over And Over

Practice is the key to improving your handwriting in general, Hooper said, but signing your new signature over and over again is the easiest and fastest way to break the habit of your old signature. 

Do it in meetings, while signing checks, at the grocery store, even on a blank notepad while you’re watching TV at home.

The goal is to get your hand as used to the new rhythm and style as possible. Eventually, it will become second-nature.

SEE ALSO: The 17 Coolest Signatures Of Famous People Through History

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This Startup Treats New Hires To A Ride In A Private Car On Their First Day Of Work

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newscred new hire

Tech companies are famous for showering their employees in swag and perks.

But at NewsCred, a New York City-based content marketing startup, the next-level employee pampering starts on the very first day.

Alexa Biale, a social media strategist with NewsCred, got a taste of this awesome treatment firsthand when she started work at the company a few weeks ago.

She shared photos of her experience with Business Insider. 

"My first day got off to a VIP start when I was picked up by a private driver and chauffeured to the office," Biale said to Business Insider. "This is customary for all new hires and I can attest that it made me feel really special."newscred new hire

When she arrived at the office, she was shown to her desk, which was filled with lots of goodies, including a NewsCred tote, a pair of Beats by Dre headphones, and a brand-new MacBook Air. newscred new hireBiale then met her office buddy, who showed her around the office and introduced her to the rest of the team. 

"Everyone was so friendly!" Biale said. "I immediately felt welcomed into the NewsCred family and couldn’t wait to dive right in."

NewsCred offers its 150 employees plenty of other perks, including fresh snacks, ping-pong tournaments, and weekly demo days across departments. 

Later that week and in the weeks to come, Biale says she was treated to a manicure in her cubicle and free yoga classes in the office.newscred new hire

She also went to breakfast with Asif Rahman and Shafqat Islam, the company's cofounders.

"In everything I do, I feel very supported by the NewsCred management team, and I’m genuinely excited to come to work everyday," Biale said.

newscred new hireAnd to top it all off, she joined 60 of her coworkers on a trip to Bridgehampton, an annual getaway participants call "Camp NewsCred." 

newscred new hireAccording to NewsCred, it was the company's biggest excursion yet, and it looked like a ton of fun.

newscred new hire

SEE ALSO: Here's The Incredible Lunch Employees At New York Startup Stack Exchange Eat Every Day

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22 Lists Everyone Should Make

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girl hands writing notebook studentIt's no secret that people love lists. They're organized, require minimal effort to read, and can make complicated information easy to digest. 

Lists appeal to our innate tendency to categorize information, as well as help us feel less stressed, according to The New Yorker. Seeing information as a list makes you feel less overwhelmed by a task so it's easier to complete, which in turn makes you happier, Maria Konnikova writes.

Here are 22 list ideas to get you started: 

1. Recipes you want to try: Pull this out the next time you're stuck on what to make for dinner for instant inspiration.

2. Movies you want to see: You'll never have to sit through the "I don't care, what to do you want to watch?" scenario again.

3. Books you want to read: Next time you're reaching for another predictable beach read, look up that acclaimed novel-of-the-year, Oprah-recommended one instead. 

4. TV shows you want to watch: You'll be prepared for when you binge-watch your way through the newest season of "Scandal" and need a new addiction now. 

5. Restaurants you want to try: Keep a running list of all the places you want to try and you'll never be left without a suggestion when deciding where to eat tonight. Bonus points if you organize it by type of cuisine. 

6. Places to see: Maybe you've always wanted to visit the Great Wall of China, or even just the Statue of Liberty. Once you have a list, you'll be motivated to plan a trip.

7. Cities and countries you want to visit: Perhaps there's not a specific landmark you're dying to see, but you've always wanted to eat pasta in Italy or drink wine in France. Your list will remind of which trips you really need to take. 

8. Places to visit in your hometown: It's not as exciting as jet-setting across the globe, but you'll have plenty of things to do instead of vegging out on your couch next Saturday.

9. Passwords: Never forget if your Amazon password is SoccerStar12 or Socc3rStar again. 

10. Daily to-do list: Keep track of everything that's on your plate for the day. Plus, nothing feels better than crossing something off. 

11. Done list: Looking back at your daily accomplishments will help you learn how to be more productive — and provides an automatic ego boost. 

12. Bucket list: Everything you want to do before you die, from big things such as getting married or climbing Mt. Everest, down to small things such as baking the perfect chocolate chip cookie. 

13. Short-term goals: What do you want to accomplish this month?

14. Long-term goals: What do you hope to accomplish in the next five to 10 years?

15. DIY projects: Pinterest might be a great aspirational site, but this will help you keep track of the projects you actually want to complete, like organizing your old photos or painting the furniture in the guest room. 

16. Home improvement projects: Writing down everything that needs to be done will allow you to prioritize what you should tackle first. 

17. Grocery list: Knowing exactly what you need to buy — and sticking to it — will not only save you money, it will help you resist that box of cookies you know you don't need.

18. Important dates: Everyone loves when you remember their birthday or anniversary, so keep a list of your loved ones' significant dates and you'll never miss a chance to make their day.

19. Due dates: If you're even the slightest bit forgetful, writing down when you need to return that shirt by or when those frozen chicken breasts expire can save you stress in the long run.

20. Favorite quotes: You'll feel inspired all over again every time you read through your list. If you're still looking for a favorite, here are a few great quotes from Albert Einstein and Richard Branson to get you started. 

21. Things you're thankful for: Revisit this on your toughest days to remind yourself how great your life is. 

22. Things that make you happy: Whenever you're sad, you'll automatically give yourself several reasons to smile. 

Are there any other lists we're forgetting? Let us know in the comments. 


NOW WATCH: This Billionaire's Definition Of Success Will Surprise You

 

SEE ALSO: 5 Morning Rituals To Keep You Productive All Day

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Meet The Mysterious Man Who Controls The Beer Industry

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drinking beer

The shroud of mystery has been (slightly) lifted from the so-called King of Beer.

Daily Beast reporter Tim Mak wrote a fascinating article about Kent "Battle" Martin, whose work you see every day but whom few know anything about.

Martin is known for approving practically every beer bottle and label on the market for the Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). He is also known for being highly enigmatic.

He's so secretive, in fact, that the publication wasn't even able to interview the regulator.

Regardless, here are some interesting tidbits about the most powerful man in the brewing world that they were able to dig up: 

  • He goes by the name "Battle."

  • Martin has approved over 29,500 beer labels just this year. 

  • The Tax and Trade Bureau would not even tell The Daily Beast any basic biographical details about Martin. Good luck Googling him.

  • He is described as awkward and robotic. Brewers say they have received approvals and notices coming in the middle of the night. There was even one anecdote of him at a craft brewers' conference working on several laptops at once, simultaneously looking at different labels.

  • Martin once rejected a beer label for the King of Hearts because the image of the heart on the bottle implied that the beer would have health benefits.

  • He also rejected a beer label called St. Paula’s Liquid Wisdom because he thought it made the medical claim of granting wisdom. 

  • He rejected the label of a beer called Bad Elf because it featured an "Elf Warning" that said elves should not drink while making toys. Battle thought the warning was confusing to consumers.

Read more about Kent "Battle" Martin over at The Daily Beast.

NOW WATCH: Is Draft Beer Better Than Bottled Beer?

SEE ALSO: Experts Say These Are The 20 Best Beers In The World

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5 Riveting Nonfiction Books Everyone Should Read

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When considering a good read, not everyone reaches for a work of fiction. True stories can be equally riveting, and often just as difficult to put down.

With this in mind, our friends at the New York Public Library helped us put together a list of the five best nonfiction books that will have you at the edge of your seat. All the books on this list were finalists for the New York Public Library's 2014 Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism.

The Big Truck That Went By

"The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster" by Jonathan Katz

A former Associated Press reporter, Katz was living and working as the only full-time American news correspondent in Haiti when the 2010 earthquake took out his home, along with thousands of others.

Heartfelt and political, "The Big Truck That Went By" is his firsthand account of what he considers an unfulfilled relief effort from the deadliest quake to ever hit the Western hemisphere.

Buy the book here »


Five Days At Memorial

"Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital" by Sheri Fink

Fink's Pulitzer Prize-winning book details some of the first five days immediately after Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans.

Fink's background as both a reporter and physician fuels her narrative as we witness the death and devastation through her eyes.

Buy the book here »



The Insurgents David Petraeus book"The Insurgents: David Petraeus and the Plot to Change the American Way of War" by Fred Kaplan

Kaplan writes the thrilling true story of how former CIA Director David Petraeus led a small group of soldier-scholars to revolutionize one of the oldest American institutions — the military — in the middle of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Kaplan gives us access to emails, confidential files and documents to piece together the retired Army general's influence in the way the U.S. military looks today.

Buy the book here »


 

Thank You For Your Service

"Thank You for Your Service" by David Finkel

A MacArthur fellow and Washington Post journalist, Finkel takes an in-depth look at some of the psychological issues, including PTSD, that plagued many of his fellow battalion members after returning from service in the Iraq war.

A sequel, if you will, to his book "The Good Soldiers," "Thank You for Your Service," Finkel presents snapshots of his battalion mates post-service, their day-to-day lives, and how their service has affected their lives and loved ones.

Buy the book here »


 

Toms River

"Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation" by Dan Fagin

Winner of the 2014 Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism, "Toms River" is a detective story of decades of industrial pollution in a Jersey Shore town.

With vivid descriptions of time, place, and the people involved, Fagin sheds light on the legal settlement that resulted from the disregard for what years of negligence has on an urban ecosystem.

Buy the book here »

SEE ALSO: 12 New Books You Need To Read This Summer

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The Unfortunate Role Of Impulsiveness In Suicides

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Golden Gate Bridge Bay LightsRobin Williams reportedly suffered from severe depression, addiction, and alcoholism before he killed himself at his California home Monday.

We may never know exactly when and how Williams arrived at the decision to commit suicide, but one of the saddest realities about suicide is that it often results from impulsive decisions that might have never occurred again if the person had survived or backed out. 

Anywhere from one-third to 80% of all suicide attempts are impulsive acts, according to The New England Journal of Medicine. 24% of those who made near-lethal suicide attempts decided to kill themselves less than five minutes before the attempt, and 70% made the decision within an hour of the attempt.

Suicidal urges are sometimes caused by immediate stressors, such as a break-up or job loss, that go away with the passage of time. 90% of people who survive suicide attempts, including the most lethal types like shooting one's self in the head, don't end up killing themselves later. That statistic reflects the "temporary nature and fleeting sway of many suicidal crises," reports The New England Journal of Medicine.

A 1978 study of 515 people who were prevented from attempting suicide on the Golden Gate Bridge between 1937 and 1971 found after more than 26 years 94% were still alive or had died of natural causes. 

Many rare survivors of Golden Gate Bridge suicide attempts recall regretting their impulsive decisions instantly  even as they were falling. A couple survivors who jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge told their stories to The New Yorker back in 2003, like then-18-year-old Kevin Hines who jumped in 2000 after pacing on the bridge for a half hour while passersby ignored him.

He finally jumped based on the thought that "nobody cares." 

"My first thought was, 'What the hell did I just do? I don't want to die,'" Hines told The New Yorker.

Then-28-year-old Ken Baldwin, like Hines, chose to hurdle over the bridge's railing rather than stand on it first because he didn't want to lose his courage to jump. Although he was severely depressed on that day in 1985, he changed his mind the moment after his leap. "I instantly realized that everything in my life that I'd thought was unfixable was totally fixable — except for having just jumped," he said.

That indecisiveness is explained by suicidologist Edwin S. Shneidman, according to a review of his works by Antoon Leenaars:

The prototypical psychological picture of a person on the brink of suicide is one who wants to and does not want to. He makes plans for self-destruction and at the same time entertains fantasies of rescue and intervention. It is possible — indeed probably prototypical — for a suicidal individual to cut his throat and to cry for help at the same time.

The period where the chance of lethal suicide is at its highest and most dangerous is relatively short, typically just hours or days rather than months, according to Shneidman.

Of course, not all suicides are impulsive, as some are the result of extensive planning and conviction. Impulsive suicide involving decisions made in as little as five minutes is one of two types generally seen among patients suffering from depression, according to Dr. Charles Nemeroff.

The other type involves "the sort of classic notion that, I've been hopeless and helpless for so long. I'm hopeless that I'll ever be better, and I'm helpless to do anything about it," Nemeroff said. That type often includes planning, notes, and goodbyes. 

SEE ALSO: Here's One Way Of Understanding Why Some People Kill Themselves

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Here's A Peek Inside The Super-Elite Club That Counts Elon Musk, James Cameron, And Buzz Aldrin As Members

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explorers (25 of 84)

World history is full of secret clubs with elite members, like Skull and Bones, the Freemasons, and the Illuminati. Shrouded in mystery, these clubs become the stuff of legend. In a lavish Upper Manhattan townhouse lies the headquarters of similarly legendary, though far less secretive society — The Explorers Club.

Founded in 1904, The Explorers Club is a professional society that serves as a meeting place for explorers, scientists, and just about anyone with an interest in scientific exploration. The Explorers Club funds, promotes, and assists in expeditions around the world, often bringing together business bigwigs like Amazon’s Jeff Bezos with enterprising explorers hell-bent on doing things that no one else has done. Among the club's current and historical members are astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong, film director James Cameron, Space-X founder Elon Musk, President Teddy Roosevelt, and aviator Charles Lindbergh.

Located on the Upper East Side, the Explorers Club operates in a Jacobean townhouse that, in style and extravagance, recalls a miniaturized version of the mansions of old-time robber barons.

Recently, New York City-based Business Insider headed uptown to take a look at the priceless historical artifacts and beautiful architecture the Club has been storing there all these years.

The Explorers Club is located on East 70th Street in Manhattan near Central Park. The house's Jacobean facade makes it instantly recognizable.



The Explorers Club headquarters was originally the home of Stephen C. Clark, the heir to the Singer Sewing Machine fortune and founder of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Club member and famous writer Lowell Thomas later bought the house and gifted the property to the club.



The front sitting room is suffused with history, including many 15th- and 16th-century fixtures from Europe. The wood coffee table was originally a hatch cover on the USC&GS Explorer, a survey ship and research vessel that was one of the few ships to survive the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack.



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Here's The Cheapest Time To Stay In 25 Major Cities

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Hotel prices can fluctuate tremendously: Do you wait until the last minute to snatch up a discounted room or do you book months in advance to get the biggest discount?

Agoda, a travel booking site, created an infographic that shows the best times to book a hotel room, based on hotel booking data from its customers. It calculated the average cost of hotel rooms in 25 major tourist cities around the world and analyzed the data to find out when it is cheapest to travel to each destination.

Their research found that for most destinations around the world, the cheapest time to book hotels is in the beginning of the year.  In January and February, for example, guests can get hotel rooms for 40% below average in Berlin, London, and Oslo. 

During peak travel times like June and July, there are great hotel deals in Milan and Dubai. The last week of December, which is also a popular travel time due to the holidays, has some great deals in Oslo, Stockholm, and Riyadh.

See  the full infographic below.

best time to book a hotel infographic

SEE ALSO: 21 Buildings You Need To See In Your Lifetime

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14 Striking Portraits Of Homeless Travelers Who Choose To Live On The Road

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California WinterMost of us are aware that homelessness is a major problem in the United States. But what about those who purposefully forgo a traditional home life and instead opt for a nomadic life on the road?

Every January, many of these travelers seek refuge from colder climates on the warm beaches and bays of southern California. Here, they regroup, reconnect, and plan ahead for their next move.

Photographer John Francis Peters began documenting these travelers for his series, California Winter, after spending time in San Diego and observing people living off the grid, hitching rides, camping, and communing with each other. 

"I found these scenes in the context of San Diego’s landscape to be strangely beautiful, intimate and surreal," Peters says.

Peters began frequenting the places where these travelers hung out and began meeting, speaking with, and photographing these modern nomads, learning about their travels and lives, and gaining insight into the motivations and choices. 

We asked Peters to share some their stories. 

Mike, who is originally from New Jersey, wakes up along the boardwalk early one cool December morning. During the winter months, San Diego becomes a temporary home for nomadic travelers from across America. Some will stay anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, while others call San Diego home for an extended period after connecting with the traveler community.



Mike from Tallahassee sits on a sand dune while he takes in his first view of the Pacific Ocean. This was Mike and his girlfriend’s first time in San Diego, having just arrived after slowly making their way across the country. For many travelers, San Diego is a “turn-around town” – it's as far south and west as they can go — so the setting becomes a place to rest, reflect, and contemplate their next move.



Karina and Tex, from Canada and Las Vegas, met on the road. Here, they cuddle during the early morning in a park where they camped out for the night. Karina had been traveling for an extended period across Canada and into the US and was continuing on toward Mexico and South America.



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Rent Rory McIlroy's Former Northern Ireland Estate With Custom Golf Course For $21,000 A Week

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rory house

Rory McIlroy sold his 15-acre home in Northern Ireland last fall and its new owner is now renting it out for $20,977 a week, according to Golf.com. The estate sits on 15-acres and includes a driving range and practice greens that are up to PGA standards.

McIlroy designed the practice greens at the home himself, so if you're looking to improve your golf game, this would be a good place to start.

The sprawling estate also includes a hot tub, a tennis court (probably for ex-fiancee Caroline Wozniacki), a private lake, and gardens. Inside is a sun room with views of the lake, a library with gas fireplace, and an 18-seat movie theater.

Rory's old estate sits on 15 acres of land.



It's gated and very private.



The best part of the house is obviously the golf course. There's a driving range.



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A Professor Created A Single Tree That Can Produce 40 Types Of Fruit

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tree of 40 fruit

Syracuse University professor Sam Van Aken spent nine years growing a single tree.

"The idea is that I could collapse a whole orchard and put it into one tree," he told Business Insider.

Each of the colors in the photo above represents a variety of flowering tree. Collectively, as one plant, they produce 40 different edible stone fruits (ones with pits, like peaches and plums). The tree above is just an artist's rendering, but the trees do exist.

tree of 40 fruitTo create his unique tree, Van Aken, a sculptor at SU's College of Visual and Performing Arts, uses a process called "grafting," which is used frequently by orchards and gardeners.

When two plants are grafted together they are cut so their "veins" flow into each other, letting them share a vascular system. These veins, known as the phloem and zylem, transport water, sugar, and minerals between the plant's roots and leaves.

Grafing a plant with a weak root system onto a plant with a strong one can enable the weak plant to grow better. Grafting has been around for centuries. It's actually the reason we still have wine — a disease threatened to kill all the French wines, until a resistant plant was found to serve as a host for grapes of all different varietals.

Though it's used frequently, 40 is an extreme number of plants to graft together. To do so takes years and years.

He'll let a tree grow for about three years, until it shows four or five branches. Then, he'll slice each branch and attach buds from four or five other types of tree on each one, grafting their vascular systems together. At that point, the count stands at about 20 or 25 plants attached to one very strong trunk.

"What you're essentially doing is injuring the tree and then attempting to trick it into believing that the part you placed in it is actually itself," Van Aken explained.

After that, those 20-to-25 varieties grow together for about two years and start to show new branches, to which Van Aken will attach more buds. Any that don't graft properly, he prunes away until about 40 varieties remain within a single tree.

"They all maintain their own genetic variety," Van Aken said. "You can see all the different types of flowers and fruit."

tree of 40 fruit"But the science is almost like a byproduct," he also noted. "It's really, for me, a metaphor."

The amount of labor involved makes the tree fairly impractical for the world of agriculture. But as a work of art, Van Aken sees considerable value. "It definitely won't cure world hunger. But I hope that it could inspire that type of thinking," he said.

Van Aken also created a timeline of sorts to keep track of when the various types of tree will flower. Thus, he can control the color by timing the grafting appropriately.

tree of 40 fruitSyracuse University actually picked the tree as a commemoration of September 11. As such, the institution plans to plant one on the quad.

The number 40 represents "somewhere between finite and infinite," according to Van Aken. Western religion, especially The Bible, popularized 40 as an uncountable number. Think 40 days and 40 nights of rain circa Noah's Ark. Thus, the tree's combined variety represent growth, hope, and renewal, as Van Aken explained — important topics to keep in mind in a post-9/11 era.

While the project seems abstract to some, Van Aken hopes people will see the value. "That day [9/11] was so vivid and tragic for me. I don't think you can make a piece that can adequately represent that tragedy," Van Aken noted. "It's too horrific."

Right now, 14 of Van Aken's stunning trees (not counting the two in his backyard) exist around the country. But come fall, he starts plans for an entire grove in Portland, Maine.

Below, an architect created a rendering of how that might look. In a word — gorgeous.tree of 40 fruit

SEE ALSO: Tiny Flying Robots Are Being Built To Pollinate Crops Instead of Real Bees

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How The Rothschilds Created Modern Finance And A Vast Fortune That Has Lasted For Centuries

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Rothschild Coat of Arms + Mayer

Just say the name "Rothschild" and you'll open any conversation up to a world of wealth, power, and dynastic conspiracy theories.

And there is no doubt — the family pioneered international finance as we know it.

This is the story of how the generations that started the dynasty managed such a feat.

Mayer Amschel Rothschild, the first of the family to open a bank, was honored by Forbes as the seventh-most influential businessman of all time and the inventor of modern banking who introduced "concepts such as diversification, rapid communication, confidentiality, and high volume."

Simply, Mayer understood and was willing to spend money to make money.

But it wasn't all that simple. Some elements of the family's history are indeed unsettling enough to pique mass interest. For instance, Mayer's primary manner of hoarding the dynasty's wealth was to institute a policy of keeping friends close ... and family even closer.

But, as William Langley notes, one question looms large:

How did a down-on-its-luck brood of German street traders emerge, seemingly overnight, to become the prime facilitators of modern capitalism, the wielders of immense political power and, as the historian Niall Ferguson puts it in 'The House of Rothschild,' 'the richest family in all of history'?

Here's the answer; the tale of how Mayer and his sons established an international banking dynasty.

*Note: This post was first published in December 2012, Lucus Kawa no longer writes for Business Insider.

The Rothschilds come from humble beginnings: the Jewish ghetto in Frankfurt known as the Judengasse.

Mayer Amschel Rothschild, original architect of the family fortune, was born in 1744. He lived above the family shop with up to 30 relatives in extremely cramped conditions.

Source: The House of Rothschild



Mayer Rothschild's father was a trader and money changer.

Mayer's father, Amschel Moses, worked as a money changer and silk cloth trader, and had Prince William of Hesse on his client list.

However, Amschel wasn't a rich man by any stretch of the imagination, as his meager dwelling suggests.

Source: The House of Rothschild



After his parents died when he was 12, Mayer went to Hanover to learn finance.

Mayer left rabbinical school in Furth and honed the craft he had dabbled in as a child. In a letter, he wrote "in my youth I was ... a very active merchant, but I was disorganized, because I had been a student [of the Talmud] and learnt nothing [about business]." He worked as an apprentice at the firm of Wolf Jakob Oppenheimer, who provided credit to royalty and engaged in international trade, especially in bullion.

Source: The House of Rothschild



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