Charlie Munger doesn’t talk much. But when he does, you sure better listen. That’s why I’ve compiled a list of the 10 best Charlie Munger quotes. Munger’s responses to questions usually come in the form of witty one-liners and even have their own nickname: “Mungerisms”.
These 10 best Charlie Munger quotes include some of these pithy Mungerisms, as well as some longer quotes from his various speeches.
In my whole life, I have known no wise people who didn’t read all the time. None.
Zero. You would be amazed at how much Warren reads – and how much I read. My
children laugh at me. They think I’m a book with a couple of legs sticking out.
I constantly see people rise in life who are not the smartest, sometimes not even the
most diligent, but they are learning machines. They go to bed every night a little wiser
than they were when they got up and boy does that help, particularly when you have
a long run ahead of you.
The best thing a human being can do is to help another human being know more.
If you think your IQ is 160 but it’s 150, you’re a disaster. It’s much better to have a
130 IQ and think it’s 120.
A lot of people with high IQs are terrible investors because they’ve got terrible
temperaments.
It’s waiting that helps you as an investor, and a lot of people just can’t stand to wait.
If you didn’t get the deferred-gratification gene, you’ve got to work very hard to overcome that.
Students learn corporate finance at business schools. They are taught that the whole
secret is diversification. But the rule is exactly the opposite. The “know-nothing”
investor should practice diversification, but it is crazy if you are an expert. The goal of
investment is to find situations where it is safe not to diversify. If you only put 20%
into the opportunity of a lifetime, you are not being rational. Very seldom do we get
to buy as much of any good idea as we would like to.
Opportunity cost is a huge filter in life. If you’ve got two suitors who are eager to
have you, but one is way better than the other, you’re going to choose that one
rather than the other. That’s the way we filter stock buying opportunities. Our ideas
are so simple. People keep asking us for mysteries, but all we have are the most
elementary ideas.
One of the greatest ways to avoid trouble is to keep it simple. When you make it
vastly complicated – and only a few high priests in each department can pretend to
understand it – what you’re going to find all too often is that those high priests don’t
really understand it at all.”
Simplicity has a way of improving performance by enabling us to better understand
what we are doing.
Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger
EDITED BY PETER KAUFMAN
Poor Charlie’s Almanack contains the wit and wisdom of Charlie Munger: his talks, lectures and public commentary. And, it has been written and compiled with both Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett’s encouragement and cooperation. So pull up your favorite reading chair and enjoy the unique humor, wit and insight that Charlie Munger brings to the world of business, investing and life itself.
The Tao of Charlie Munger
COMPILED BY DAVID CLARK
Words of wisdom from Charlie Munger—Warren Buffett’s longtime business partner and the visionary Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway—collected and interpreted with an eye towards investing by David Clark, coauthor of the bestselling Buffettology series. This book is a compilation of some great Charlie Munger quotes.
The Ultimate Guide to Value Investing
Do you want to know how to invest like the value investing legend Warren Buffett? All you need is money to invest, a little patience—and this book. Learn more
