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We Lost a Great Entrepreneur, RIP Felix Dennis

Silverhawk851

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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/p...rmer-editor-of-oz-dies-of-cancer-9556947.html

Media baron and personality Felix Dennis has died aged 67 after a “long and painful battle with cancer.”

“Few things in life are certain except death and being taxed.”
Felix Dennis, How to Get Rich: One of the World's Greatest Entrepreneurs Shares His Secrets


In respect, here are some wisdoms shared by Felix. He will live on through his work:

Felix Dennis on How to Get Rich – Quotes

Felix Dennis is the founder of Computer Shopper Magazine, Maxim, and dozens of other publications. A very wealthy man, worth half a billion or so. Some great gems from his book “How To Get Rich”:

“Too many people want to make a blockbuster movie and live in Beverly Hills. Not enough people want to dig holes.”

On borrowed money:

“What are banks and venture capitalists but usurers who offer you an umbrella when the sun is shining and snatch it away the instant a few rain clouds appear?”

Risk and reward:

“An honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay is not risk taking.”

Personal vs. Corporate Finances:

“Never personally underwrite business loans for your company unless you absolutely, positively are forced to.”

Negotiating:

“Few of us are any good at detailed negotiations. That includes your opponent, by the way. Most negotiations are unnecessary. Don’t enter into them. Remember that ‘the fortress that parleys is already half taken.’ Save serious negotiations for serious occasions.”

Chasing money:

“If you chase money desperately in the earnest belief that you can never be happy without it and seriously think that the chase is a meaningful occupation, I doubt very much you will succeed. You have to be fiercely determined, true. But an appreciation of the absurdity of the chase helps enormously.”

Ownership:

“I once made a half a million by selling a magazine I had not even published yet to a rival. Half a million pounds for a day’s work. And why? Why? Why? Because I owned it. I owned it all.”

Fear:

“Try for just a single day, a whole day when you refuse to acknowledge fear of failure, fear of making yourself look like an idiot, fear of losing your lover, fear of losing your job, fear of your boss, fear of anything and of any kind. Fear will creep back, usually at three in the morning.

“Laugh at it and tell it to take a hike. Smash it in the teeth. Spit on it. Put your arms round it and make nicey-nicey. Then slip a sharp blade into its stinking throat just as you’re French-kissing it.”

Carpe Diem – Seize the Day.


Adapted from: http://www.perrymarshall.com/28007/felix-dennis-how-to-get-rich/
 
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Formless

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I literally picked up 'How to get rich' a few days ago, then started looking at his poetry and him as a man, then he dies.

RIP. This is one of those cases where a man dies but a legacy is left.
 

Shades

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Are they making any breakthroughs at all with cancer? Just seems crazy with all the money and intelligent people working on treatments that we havent come all that far. But I havent looked into it at all in the last few years so maybe im off the mark on this.
 
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ddall

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I'm about 80% finished reading How to Get Rich, googled his name to see some interviews, and wow, he passed away at 67 yesterday.

Few choice quotes to add to the thread:

“If you cannot treat your quest to get rich as a game, you will never be rich.”

“Whatever qualities the rich may have, they can be acquired by anyone with the tenacity to become rich. The key, I think, is confidence. Confidence and an unshakable belief it can be done and that you are the one to do it.”

“The bottom line is that if I did it, you can do it. I got rich without the benefits of a college education or a penny of capital. I made many errors along the way. I went from being a pauper…a hippie dropout on the dole, living in a crummy room without the proverbial pot to piss in, without even the money to pay the rent, without a clue as to what to do next…to being rich.”
 

Yankee427

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Are they making any breakthroughs at all with cancer? Just seems crazy with all the money and intelligent people working on treatments that we havent come all that far. But I havent looked into it at all in the last few years so maybe im off the mark on this.

I actually have a friend from college who is working on his doctorate at Cornell looking at ways to cure cancer. I believe in their trials, they have figured out a way to cure cancer in rats, or stop the bad cancer cells from spreading. It's still a far ways off for testing on humans though.

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2014/01/metastatic-cancer-cells-implode-protein-contact

Felix Dennis is definitely someone you can learn a lot from. Seeing him die so young, it puts into perspective everything on this forum about not wasting time and using your time for the best purpose.
 
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Griffith

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I remember the story of when he went to an ex-girlfriend's funeral and the mother came up to him and told him how much he scared her years ago.

"Because when you first began coming around after Sally, I asked you what you were going to do when you left school. You looked me in the eye. Your eyes weren't like any teenager I ever knew. They were fierce, like a tiger's. You were insolent and arrogant and frightening. I told my husband so.'

'I'm sorry for that.'

'You told me you were going to get rich. Not that you were going to university or were after this or that job. Just that you were going to be rich. I never forgot it."

Uncle Felix, you've shown the way to many as best as can be done in a popular book on entrepreneurship. May the trees you planted bear fruit.

RIP.
 

D11FYY

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An absolute shame that he passed away.
I love his attitude and the way he conducted himself, he always came across as I could loose it tomorrow and still be happy. But by next week Ill have it back.
 

MJ DeMarco

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Sad news. Hopefully he died with no regrets. RIP.
 

vinylawesome

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Interesting guy. Brilliant entrepreneur. Great showman. RIP.

"In 2006, Mr. Dennis wrote a book, “How to Get Rich,” in which he argued that “having a great idea is overrated.” Acknowledging that this seemed counterintuitive, he went on to say, “You need great execution.”"
 
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Eskil

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Wow.. came here to post this as I just saw the news on Twitter. RIP Mr. Dennis. Your book made an impact on many, and it remains among my favorites to this day. Now I feel like reading it again.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk
 

Jake

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Sad news. Hopefully he died with no regrets. RIP.
Doesn't seem to have any

"I've lived an unbelievable life, even if I did do my best to kill myself in order to live it," he says at one point. "That I survived at all is a miracle – that's what the quacks tell me – but here I am." He pauses for a beat, then, eyes sparkling, adds, "It's not quite right, is it? To shag all the women, have all the money and two cases of Petrus in my wine cellar and then write poetry that sells and that people love. It shouldn't be allowed. That's what annoys people. They think that I've got to get what's coming to me and no doubt I will."

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/jun/02/nine-lives-of-felix-dennis
 

Toushi

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RIP I am genuinely saddened by this loss, he was a great man with the integrity to speak his mind without reserve and share his knowledge in the good faith of enriching other's lives. He will be missed, but not forgotten.

Here's a link to an interview he did in an old video:

 
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D11FYY

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Apologies to any ladys on forum for this post,

asset104.jpg


But this is my favorite picture of him.. A nutter and fruitful businessman to say the least.
 

vinylawesome

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"So I had this crazy, dream-like opportunity to vacation for a week at Felix's home in Mustique. Before leaving we received a packet of information —

rules and such about the private island, the staff that would be taking care of us, and other such mind-boggling details. But the most important item
on that list, as highlighted by its author, was the requirement that my husband and I each bring a book for Felix's library.
We were given a list of books to choose from, much of which were summer reads and New York Times best-selling thrillers. I thought it odd that this billionaire wanted these books for his own personal library. Surely he could just order them on Amazon? But all was made clear when we landed in Mustique and were given a tour of the island.

The library wasn't a couple of shelves in his living room. It was an actual structure filled with an actual librarian and shelved sections for kids, fiction, non-fiction, and more. Felix had the library built for the island, its visitors, and inhabitants. And his generosity didn't stop there. Felix built new homes for the people and families that lived and worked on the island. In his own breathtaking home, his basement game room — which was crammed with pinball machines, an air-hockey table, darts, a drum set, and too many toys to actually play with in one week — was open to the neighborhood children who could come and go as they pleased. Felix was an intimidating figure for many reasons, but that unfathomable vacation revealed not only his generous heart but also his sense of home and community. Felix was an incredibly savvy businessman and entrepreneur, but he also invested in those he believed in — from Mustique to midtown Manhattan — and wanted to see them happy, prospering in their own right."

—Lauren Hansen, multimedia editor, TheWeek.com

http://theweek.com/article/index/26...nnis-in-the-words-of-those-who-worked-for-him
 

Richie Rich

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I could not believe it when I found out that he had died. He was one guy I wanted to meet and thank for changing the course of my life. If it had not been for Felix, I may not have found TMF as soon as I did. I picked up a copy of How To Get Rich in the discount bin of a Borders. It was serendipity; I had always had the itch, but when everyone around you tells you that getting rich is for "other people", you tend to listen to it.

I've gone through my share of crappy jobs and everytime I would come home and bitch about them, my dad would ask me if I thought I should be the president of the company/business right off the bat. I would of course say yes, because I could see what worked and what didn't and how to fix things; But my dad would tell me it doesn't work that way. If only I had known that I could be in charge of my own company and build it as I saw fit, who knows. But I like to believe the saying that when the student is ready, the teacher will appear, so maybe I wasn't ready then; but I am now.

By finding Felix's book, that led me to do a search of him on Amazon and sure enough, there were others who had purchased How To Get Rich and they recommended another book that they said was the best book ever for those wanting to go the entrepreneurial path: The Millionaire Fastlane .

For those interested, I'm still working on my idea and if that doesn't work out, I'll try something else. I am thankful that I found How To Get Rich or maybe it found me and that it led me to The Millionaire Fastlane . I wish I could have met Felix personally and thanked him, even though I thanked him many times on Facebook, who knows if he read it; I hope he did. I don't know if I have ever said thank you to you MJ, but thank you for writing The Millionaire Fastlane and changing lives, mine included.
 
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G

GuestUser113

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Chasing money:

“If you chase money desperately in the earnest belief that you can never be happy without it and seriously think that the chase is a meaningful occupation, I doubt very much you will succeed. You have to be fiercely determined, true. But an appreciation of the absurdity of the chase helps enormously.”

Pretty much sums it up.
 

Aidan

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R.I.P. We've lost a great man.

The only thing I don't agree with Felix on in his book is on the topic of luck. Luck are unmeasured variables; The more one educates themselves in terms of their subject, business, etc, the more they leverage success in their favor. Other than that, I would strongly suggest reading How To Get Rich. Very valuable library of knowledge.
 

deepestblue

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"If you wish to get rich there are no reasons why you shouldn't get rich. NONE AT ALL."

"Most people won't listen to people who know more than they do. They aren't prepared to do the work."

"The key to successful business is self belief and application."

- Felix Dennis

"How to Get Rich" is right up there with "The Millionaire Fastlane " and a small handful of others as the best pieces of literature I have ever read on business. Felix Dennis: an amazing individual.
 
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vinylawesome

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How to Get Rich

Good fortune?
The fact is
The more that you practise,
The harder you sweat,
The luckier you get.

Ideas? We've had'em
Since Eve deceived Adam,
But take it from me
Execution's the key.

The money? Just pester
A likely Investor.
To get what you need
You toady to greed.

The talent? Go sign it.
But first, wine and dine it.
It's tedious work
With a talented jerk.

Good timing? To win it
You gotta be in it.
Just never be late
To quit or cut bait.

Expansion? It's vanity!
Profit is sanity.
Overhead begs
To walk on two legs.

The first step? Just do it
And bluff your way through it.
Remember to duck!
God speed ...

and Good Luck!

Source: Felix Dennis Poem
 

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