Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger
by Charles T. Munger
30 popular highlights from this book
Key Insights & Memorable Quotes
Below are the most popular and impactful highlights and quotes from Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger:
In my whole life, I have known no wise people (over a broad subject matter area) who didn't read all the time -- none, zero. You'd be amazed at how much Warren reads--and at how much I read. My children laugh at me. They think I'm a book with a couple of legs sticking out.
Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. Day by day, and at the end of the day-if you live long enough-like most people, you will get out of life what you deserve.
How to find a good spouse?-the best single way is to deserve a good spouse.
There is no better teacher than history in determining the future... There are answers worth billions of dollars in 30$ history book.
Acquire worldly wisdom and adjust your behavior accordingly. If your new behavior gives you a little temporary unpopularity with your peer group…then to hell with them.
It takes character to sit with all that cash and to do nothing.I didn't get top where I am by going after mediocre opportunities.
What are the secret of success?-one word answer :"rational
The best armour of old age is a well spent life perfecting it.
In my whole life, I have known no wise people (over a board subject matter area) who didn't read all the time - none, zero. You'd be amazed how much Warren reads - and at how much I read. My children laugh at me. They think I'm a book with a couple of legs sticking out.
I think that, every time you see the word EBITDA, you should substitute the words "bullshit earnings.
It's the work on your desk. Do well with what you already have and more will come in.
The best armour of old age is a well spent life preceding it.
The reason we avoid the word "synergy" is because people generally claim more synergistic benefits than will come. Yes, it exists, but there are so many false promises. Berkshire is full of synergies - we don't avoid synergies, just claims of synergies.
It's not the bad ideas that do you in, it’s the good ideas. And you may say, 'That can't be so. That's paradoxical. What he [Graham] meant was that if a thing is a bad idea, it’s hard to overdo. But where there is a good idea with a core of essential and important truth, you can’t ignore it. And then it's so easy to overdo it. So the good ideas are a wonderful way to suffer terribly if you overdo them
the acquisition of wisdom is a moral duty.
Stay within a well-defined circle of competence.
Good ideas are rare—when the odds are greatly in your favor, bet (allocate) heavily.
I want to think about things where I have an advantage over others. I don't want to play a game where people have an advantage over me. I don't play in a game where other people are wise and I am stupid. I look for a game where I am wise, and they are stupid. And believe me, it works better. God bless our stupid competitors. They make us rich.
Above all, never fool yourself, and remember that you are the easiest person to fool.
Avoid unnecessary transactional taxes and frictional costs; never take action for its own sake.
Opportunity doesn’t come often, so seize it when it does. Opportunity meeting the prepared mind—that’s the game.
Resist the craving for false precision, false certainties, etc.
You need to have a passionate interest in why things are happening. That cast of mind, kept over long periods, gradually improves your ability to focus on reality. If you don't have the cast of mind, you're destined for failure even if you have a high I.Q.
Remember that just because other people agree or disagree with you doesn’t make you right or wrong—the only thing that matters is the correctness of your analysis and judgment.
No man’s life should be accounted a happy one until it is over.
Well, luckily I had the idea at a very early age that the safest way to try to get what you want is to try to deserve what you want.
The quotes, talks, and speeches presented here are rooted in the old-fashioned Midwestern values for which Charlie has become known: lifelong learning, intellectual curiosity, sobriety, avoidance of envy and resentment, reliability, learning from the mistakes of others, perseverance, objectivity, willingness to test one’s own beliefs, and many more. But his advice comes not in the form of stentorian admonishments; instead, Charlie uses humor, inversions (following the directive of the great algebraist [Carl] Jacobi to “invert, always invert”), and paradox to provide sage counsel about life’s toughest challenges.
And the models have to come from multiple disciplines—because all the wisdom of the world is not to be found in one little academic department. That’s why poetry professors, by and large, are so unwise in a worldly sense. They don’t have enough models in their heads. So you’ve got to have models across a fair array of disciplines.
Yeah, I’m passionate about wisdom. I’m passionate about accuracy and some kinds of curiosity. Perhaps I have some streak of generosity in my nature and a desire to serve values that transcend my brief life. But maybe I’m just here to show off. Who knows? I believe in the discipline of mastering the best that other people have ever figured out. I don’t believe in just sitting down and trying to dream it all up yourself. Nobody’s that smart.
not drifting into extreme ideology is very, very important in life. If you want to end up wise, heavy ideology is very likely to prevent that outcome.
