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"Nowadays, you can't turn on the TV without some talking head telling you about the economy. Yet, in a world overrun by 'analysts,' only one man has the guts, the brains, and, quite frankly, the poetry to put it all in perspective.That man is Michael Silverstein... Silverstein is a true intellectual." — Gersh Kuntzman, The New York Post
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Excelsior is one of those words that meant a lot in the 19th century but fell out of favor in the 20th. It means always upward, ever higher, and was most often used as a call to excellence or as a motto (which is why it’s found today on the seal of the State of New York). It’s a romantic rallying cry to do better, and better, and better. To constantly improve yourself. To never give up Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, America’s most famous 19th poet, chose this word as the title of one of his better known poems. The story line of this poem follows the adventures of a beautiful young man plodding through a driving Alpine snowstorm, carrying a banner bearing the single word: Excelsior. A maiden and an old guy in a village he passes through beg him to stop and rest. But he won’t abandon his quest for the ephemeral, undefined, but suggestively exalted Excelsior. A few days later the young man is found in a snow bank (perhaps by a St. Bernard, though it’s not made clear in the poem), a smile on his frozen lips, still bearing the banner with that single word: Excelsior. A generation of American school children learned this poem by heart and found it profoundly inspiring. Perhaps a contemporary generation of investors will find my own version of this poem—titled "Alka-Seltzer"—equally so. It appears in my new book, Songs of Wall Street. Alka-SeltzerThe closing bell was drawing near, His mouth gone dry, his eyes transfixed, "Don’t be a schmuck," an old hand warned; "Ease up," his wife advised, "be cool Some weeks later, a friend of Ed, Ed’s left the game that made him throb, ********* |
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