Peter Linneman: A Giant Amongst Men
Alex BreslerA Giant Amongst Men
I try to make a reasonable habit of reflecting on the journey of life. Recently there has been alot of exciting new variables added to me life and as I reflect I can’t get out of my mind the power and importance of one of my favorite teachers and mentors from my 4 years at Wharton, Peter Linneman.
I find myself constantly coming back to how fortunate I was to have Peter as a professor during those formidable years of my life. While I had many great professors in school, no one could stack up to Peter.
He had an unrivaled passion for teaching and fundamental passion for the betterment of his students that no other professor could rival. Furthermore, he was, and still likely is, one of ONLY a handful people in this universe who literally commanded the respect of every real estate industry professional, our president included!! Another absolutely incredible feat.
As I have gotten older I have come to realize one of the reasons Peter was so important to me and SO many other students was for a completely different reason, more than almost anyone else I know he imparted REAL wisdom about life and the things that TRULY matter. He peppered this into his classes for all of his students to take in but it was those of us who got to know him past our time in class that most benefited from Peter’s incredible humbleness, street smarts, and life lived as an ever evolving reflective human being truly looking to make the most of his time on this earth.
About 8 years ago Peter did what they like to call in Yiddish a mitzvah when he memorialized in writing 89 of his most important life lessons. To this day it is one of pertinent and important documents I have ever read. In good times and bad I keep finding myself coming back to the Linneman Lessons to help keep me grounded, motivated, reflective and on course. I will keep this with me for the rest of my life and as I hope to start a family of my own I intend to pass down much of these lessons to children of my own.
As a huge proponent of the open-knowledge, I wanted to memorialize and share Peter Linneman’s Life Lessons. I hope I am not offending you by sharing these to anyone who finds their way to this URL Peter and I will gladly take this down if you wish to have these remain private but now more than ever we could benefit from true truths about the world that no amount of continued technological progression or political upheaval will ever change.
| idLesson | linnemanLesson | isTop10Lesson |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | You always have time for what is important to you | NA |
| 2 | Physical fitness is critical; so stay in shape (and start now) | NA |
| 3 | Decide what you want to achieve and strive for it | NA |
| 4 | Be forgiving | NA |
| 5 | Let the people who matter know how you feel about them | NA |
| 6 | People are the ultimate assets | NA |
| 7 | Enjoy what you do and success will follow | NA |
| 8 | Ideas (and talk) are cheap; execution is valuable | NA |
| 9 | Keep learning all through you life | NA |
| 10 | Get rich slowly | NA |
| 11 | Travel, observe, and respect other ways of life | NA |
| 12 | Do the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do | TRUE |
| 13 | All parents are strange and difficult; so don’t take it personally if yours are strange and difficult | NA |
| 14 | Find out who you are and stay true to your values | TRUE |
| 15 | Take time to reflect on life from time to time | NA |
| 16 | You always have a home here in Philly | NA |
| 17 | Don’t lose your cool about things you cannot possibly control | TRUE |
| 18 | Issues are much easier to resolve than people | NA |
| 19 | Be patient but aggressive | NA |
| 20 | Careers and lives are not linear, so be open to unexpected changes | NA |
| 21 | Judgment is far more important than intellect | TRUE |
| 22 | Focus on getting people over their threshold resistance | NA |
| 23 | There is no “perfect/correct” answer in life; many can work | NA |
| 24 | Being apolitical makes it easier to see reality | NA |
| 25 | Life isn’t fair, so don’t be upset when things are unfair | NA |
| 26 | Act, don’t react | NA |
| 27 | Have both a professional and private life to balance the ups and downs that occur on either side | NA |
| 28 | It is easy to raise money if you’re not doing it | NA |
| 29 | There are just a few bullshit lines that get repeated over time | NA |
| 30 | You don’t understand…” means “you probably understand” | NA |
| 31 | Renting isn’t so bad | NA |
| 32 | Assume it was your fault; then ask how you could have made it better | TRUE |
| 33 | Marriage is about creating 3 people from 2: you, me and us; most people want it to be me and us | NA |
| 34 | Strive to find your “gifts” | NA |
| 35 | Members of the opposite gender can just be friends | NA |
| 36 | Open doors in life and good things can happen | NA |
| 37 | You never fail; things sometimes just don’t work quite as planned | NA |
| 38 | Analyze then leap | NA |
| 39 | Find friends who are good; avoid negative people | NA |
| 40 | Pick your conflicts; most disputes are not worth fighting | TRUE |
| 41 | Why ever do less than the best you can? | TRUE |
| 42 | Be positive | NA |
| 43 | It’s the journey – not the things – that matter in life | TRUE |
| 44 | Putting people before profits will generally result in a life of profits | TRUE |
| 45 | Putting profits before power will generally yield a life of power | NA |
| 46 | Take care of the people you love | NA |
| 47 | You may never get a second chance to tell people how you feel about them | NA |
| 48 | Have friends of different ages and outside your immediate circle | NA |
| 49 | Take deep breaths sometimes to clear you head | NA |
| 50 | Genius is the outcome of hard work every day; not a eureka experience | TRUE |
| 51 | “Eating” is good; but people are the key If you don’t have wealth, don’t think getting it will bring happiness (as opposed to comfort) | NA |
| 52 | Share what you have (pay it forward) | NA |
| 53 | Don’t stress over sunk costs | NA |
| 54 | Revise and improve along the way | NA |
| 55 | Just be the best you that you can be | NA |
| 56 | Don’t worry what others think; know what and why you are doing something, and do it Then it is what it is | NA |
| 57 | Treat everyone (janitor to boss) the same They all deserve respect | NA |
| 58 | Share common values (not hobbies/pastimes) with partners | NA |
| 59 | Far better to give a gift than to receive a gift | NA |
| 60 | Travel light (both in life and on the road) | NA |
| 61 | Strive to explain complex things simply | NA |
| 62 | It’s you (not technology/slides) they are there to hear | NA |
| 63 | Be prepared to adjust | NA |
| 64 | Have discipline but be relaxed | NA |
| 65 | Assess your audience before you start to speak | NA |
| 66 | A 26.24% IRR is silly, no one is 2% smart | NA |
| 67 | “What is the bet?” is the critical question | NA |
| 68 | Borrowing children can yield blessings beyond your dreams | NA |
| 69 | Life will end; face it and embrace the joy of their life rather than the sadness of their death | NA |
| 70 | “I’m just a humble school teacher” | NA |
| 71 | Saying “no” is as important as saying “yes”, only tougher | NA |
| 72 | The best deals are often the ones you didn’t do | NA |
| 73 | Stick to what you know, but keep learning | NA |
| 74 | Lose money for others first | NA |
| 75 | The machine is rarely the problem; the people operating the machine are the problem | NA |
| 76 | Laugh, smile and be happy | NA |
| 77 | Embrace the 11th Commandment: thou shalt not take yourself so seriously | NA |
| 78 | In every good market there are bad deals, and every bad market there are good deals | NA |
| 79 | Negotiating partnership agreements is like planning a divorce before the wedding | NA |
| 80 | Marry a saint | NA |
| 81 | To interview well, think of yourself like a stripper; you need to be proud of who you are and show them your assets | NA |
| 82 | Your job in life is to convey who you are If people don’t like it, that’s their problem | NA |
| 83 | Overnight success almost always took 10-25 years | NA |
| 84 | All you have is your reputation | NA |
| 85 | Taking profits is a good think | NA |
| 86 | Don’t engage in mental masturbation; focus on decisions that matter | NA |
| 87 | In the battle between fear and greed, greed wins about 80% of the time | NA |
| 88 | Generosity is cheap over the long term, as you will receive benefits many times over during your life | NA |
| 89 | There are very few things in life that can’t be fixed, so don’t go crazy when things break | NA |
| 90 | Never tell you spouse “you are just like your mother (or father)” | NA |
| 91 | It is meant to be mean and they will view it as a very nasty statement | NA |
| 92 | Remember that the world did just fine before you got here, and will get along fine when you are gone. And not more than about a dozen people will truly cry when they hear of your death, so do not feel so special | NA |
| 93 | Always keep learning | NA |
| 94 | Say “I love you” a lot; it feels good to say it and better to hear it | NA |
| 95 | Trying to talk with haters is a fool’s game; it achieves nothing except making you feel upset | NA |
| 96 | Being subtle is not a gift bestowed on the young; it is learned as you wrinkle | NA |
| 97 | Just when you think you have figured out life, along comes something horrible that shakes you to your core; be patient as shortly thereafter something wonderful and amazing will happen | NA |
| 98 | If you do not open the door when opportunity knocks, you will never realize it was there | NA |
| 99 | If you do not respect yourself, why should anyone else respect you | NA |
| 100 | If you do not love yourself, there is no reason others should love you | NA |
| 101 | Take ownership of your mistakes but also forgive yourself for making mistakes | NA |
Parting Thoughts
Thank you for being you, Peter. You have touched my life and the lives of so many more. You are a true giant amongst men