‘The only capital I can rely on is in my head’

“My father returned from these adventures a changed man. Gone were the ambitions. He was happy to be alive. His ambition was to enjoy life. He liked to live well but he did not want to amass wealth. He considered material possessions an encumbrance which could drag you down or even on occasion cost you your life. He is the only man I know who systematically decumulated his assets. He balanced the gap between his earnings as a lawyer and our rather comfortable way of life by selling off pieces of real estate. As a result he had little left to lose in the war. ‘The only capital I can rely on is in my head,’ he used to say making a pun on the word capital which in Latin also means head.” - George Soros’ foreward to Masquerade: The Incredible True Story of How George Soros’ Father Outsmarted the Gestapo translated from the original Maskerado in Esperanto by Tivadar Soros