DUBAI: An Oman-based website is claiming the country’s oldest resident died on Tuesday at the impressive age of 127-years-old – that is five years older than Jeanne Calment who was officially verified as the world’s longest living person who died in France in 1997.
It is not uncommon for claims of longevity that, if true, would put the official record breakers to shame.
And if Salim bin Hamad bin Abdullah Qassabi’s story in the Oman Daily Observer is true, then he was born in 1890 in the district of Bahla, south of the Hajjar mountains and close to Nizwa city.
His life would have spanned 13 decades, across three centuries. He would have lived through two world wars, and countless others.
His lifetime would have seen the shifting of international borders, the creation of new countries and the end of empires.
If true, Qassabi was born long before most countries in the Middle East were even created.
During his lifetime there was definitely the creation of technologies that have changed people’s lives forever.
The atom bomb was created and used – with devastating effect. And international travel became common place thanks to the introduction of commercial air travel.
Travel was something Qassabi was familiar with according to the Oman Daily Observer.
He traveled to Zanzibar in 1940, when it was still under British rule, where he remained for 22 years, working in trade and was also said to be supportive of Omani immigrants living there.
The Oman Daily Observer website described him as a man who was known “for his good deeds, tolerance and (for) resolving disputes.”
The report added that he left Zanzibar in 1962 following a coup, and returned to Oman, but two years later traveled to Kuwait where he worked.
He eventually returned to Oman where he spent the rest of his life.
Oman’s oldest resident dies apparently aged 127, but would have outlived empires, countries and conflicts
Oman’s oldest resident dies apparently aged 127, but would have outlived empires, countries and conflicts
Some Warren Buffett wisdom on his last day leading Berkshire Hathaway
OMAHA, Nebraska: The advice that legendary investor Warren Buffett offered on investing and life over the years helped earn him legions of followers who eagerly read his annual letters and filled an arena in Omaha every year to listen to him at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meetings.
Buffett’s last day as CEO is Wednesday after six decades of building up the Berkshire conglomerate. He’ll remain chairman, but Greg Abel will take over leadership.
Here’s a collection of some of Buffett’s most famous quotes from over the years:
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“Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.”
That’s how Buffett summed up his investing approach of buying out-of-favor stocks and companies when they were selling for less than he estimated they were worth.
He also urged investors to stick with industries they understand that fall within their “circle of competence” and offered this classic maxim: “Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No. 1.”
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“After they first obey all rules, I then want employees to ask themselves whether they are willing to have any contemplated act appear the next day on the front page of their local paper to be read by their spouses, children and friends with the reporting done by an informed and critical reporter.
“If they follow this test, they need not fear my other message to them: Lose money for the firm and I will be understanding; lose a shred of reputation for the firm and I will be ruthless.”
That’s the ethical standard Buffett explained to a Congressional committee in 1991 that he would apply as he cleaned up the Wall Street investment firm Salomon Brothers. He has reiterated the newspaper test many times since over the years.
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“You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.”
Many companies might do well when times are good and the economy is growing, but Buffett told investors that a crisis always reveals whether businesses are making sound decisions.
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“Who you associate with is just enormously important. Don’t expect that you’ll make every decision right on that. But you are going to have your life progress in the general direction of the people you work with, that you admire, that become your friends.”
Buffett always told young people that they should try to hang out with people who they feel are better than them because that will help improve their lives. He said that’s especially true when choosing a spouse, which might be the most important decision in life.
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“Our unwavering conclusion: never bet against America.”
Buffett has always remained steadfast in his belief in the American capitalist system. He wrote in 2021 that “there has been no incubator for unleashing human potential like America. Despite some severe interruptions, our country’s economic progress has been breathtaking.”
