“The directors of such companies, however, being the managers rather of other people's money than of their own, it cannot well be expected that they should watch over it with the same anxious vigilance”

Simplified Meaning:

Imagine you asked a friend to take care of your bicycle while you were away. They might not be as careful with it as you would be because it's not their bicycle. This quote suggests that when people are in charge of managing someone else's money, they don’t worry about it as much as they would if it were their own money. For example, a manager in a company might make riskier investments or not pay as much attention to details because they aren’t personally affected if things go wrong. This can sometimes lead to mistakes or poor decisions. To apply this idea in life, if you’re trusting someone else with your resources, make sure they have a good reason to be as careful with those resources as you would be. Maybe offer them incentives or find ways to ensure they have a personal stake in the outcomes. This helps ensure they will take as much care of your things as you would.