Reading between all the religious talk, I think he hits it straight on a number of interesting points and topics. This mindset of being a giver carries over into all relationships in life, and being generous and accepting of others has opened many doors for me as well. I also liked the discussion of boundaries with the music teacher. All valuable lessons.

It's easy to overlook some of this stuff when you're in the insane rat race that is Silicon Valley.

Moral of the story:

You're unlikely to lay on your deathbed and think "Holy fuck am I glad I screwed over the sucker who purchased my home, that was an awesome move to save a few grand on a few hundred grand by putting in shit quality carpet".

I think truly successful people should be able to use both tools to accomplish what they need.

In what scenarios would you aspire to or find it honorable to take more than you give?

Perhaps in situations when dealing with an entity that’s equally (or more) cold-blooded or cut-throat and doesn’t have any personal skin in the game. Such as in a negotiation with a corporation that’s never going to care nearly as much about me as a person as they do about what they can get out of me; or perhaps a similar entity like a VC firm.

But I agree that it’s shitty to take more than you give to individual people.

Good points, thank you cimmanom!