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El tao de Charlie Munger: La visión del vicepresidente de Berkshire Hathaway sobre la vida, los negocios y la búsqueda de la riqueza
Charlie Munger es vicepresidente de Berkshire Hathaway, presidente de Daily Journal Corporation y socio comercial de Warren Buffett desde hace casi cuarenta años. A día de hoy, su fortuna personal supera los dos mil millones de dólares.
En este libro, al igual que ya hizo en El tao de Warren Buffett, David Clark reúne una colección de pensamientos y citas de uno de los inversores más exitosos de Estados Unidos. Esta colección, extraída de entrevistas, discursos y preguntas y respuestas de las reuniones anuales de Berkshire Hathaway y Wesco, ofrece información sobre el asombroso éxito financiero y la filosofía de vida de Munger.
Lleno de consejos útiles para aprender a invertir y entender cómo funciona la economía, El tao de Charlie Munger es una guía esencial que ayudará a sus lectores, ya sean profesionales o aficionados, a triunfar en las finanzas y en la vida.
En este libro, al igual que ya hizo en El tao de Warren Buffett, David Clark reúne una colección de pensamientos y citas de uno de los inversores más exitosos de Estados Unidos. Esta colección, extraída de entrevistas, discursos y preguntas y respuestas de las reuniones anuales de Berkshire Hathaway y Wesco, ofrece información sobre el asombroso éxito financiero y la filosofía de vida de Munger.
Lleno de consejos útiles para aprender a invertir y entender cómo funciona la economía, El tao de Charlie Munger es una guía esencial que ayudará a sus lectores, ya sean profesionales o aficionados, a triunfar en las finanzas y en la vida.
224 pages, Hardcover
Published May 19, 2021
512 people are currently reading
4399 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 217 reviews
June 20, 2020
I don't generally read "quote" books, but was recommended the audiobook version of this by 3 people that I greatly respect. This was a distilled summary of Charlie Munger's investing principles. Was a quick listen (just north of 2 hours at 1.5x speed), and had some interesting nuggets. My takeaways were:
1. Operate in a circle of competence. Know what you understand. Acknowledge what you don't know. Make capital allocation decisions accordingly
2. Diversification is ineffective as an investment strategy. Doubling down on high-conviction bets will yield better results if you have good judgement
3. Remember that good ideas are rare. When the odds are heavily in your favor, bet heavily. When a great investment is lying right in front of most investors, they will only nibble at it. When a macroeconomic event causes stock prices to collapse, buy as much as possible in positions that you have a high conviction in and are in your circle of competence
4. In good times, hold on to cash. It will come in handy when the market crashes
5. Be very comfortable sitting on your ass and doing nothing except reading. This is better than making the wrong decision just because you want to feel more active
6. Buy and hold. Once you get your hands on an excellent business at a fair or below fair price, the smart thing to do is to hold on to it and let the companies accumulated earnings pile up. Change your mind only when the underlying economics of the business change
7. On mergers and acquisitions: when you mix raisins with turds, you still have turds
8. A great business at a fair price > a fair business at a great price
9. Avoid ideology like the plague. It’s not going to help you look at the world in an objective way. Be open minded, not an ideologue
10. Be a learning machine and read as widely as you can. Incremental compounding of your understating of the world is a huge advantage
1. Operate in a circle of competence. Know what you understand. Acknowledge what you don't know. Make capital allocation decisions accordingly
2. Diversification is ineffective as an investment strategy. Doubling down on high-conviction bets will yield better results if you have good judgement
3. Remember that good ideas are rare. When the odds are heavily in your favor, bet heavily. When a great investment is lying right in front of most investors, they will only nibble at it. When a macroeconomic event causes stock prices to collapse, buy as much as possible in positions that you have a high conviction in and are in your circle of competence
4. In good times, hold on to cash. It will come in handy when the market crashes
5. Be very comfortable sitting on your ass and doing nothing except reading. This is better than making the wrong decision just because you want to feel more active
6. Buy and hold. Once you get your hands on an excellent business at a fair or below fair price, the smart thing to do is to hold on to it and let the companies accumulated earnings pile up. Change your mind only when the underlying economics of the business change
7. On mergers and acquisitions: when you mix raisins with turds, you still have turds
8. A great business at a fair price > a fair business at a great price
9. Avoid ideology like the plague. It’s not going to help you look at the world in an objective way. Be open minded, not an ideologue
10. Be a learning machine and read as widely as you can. Incremental compounding of your understating of the world is a huge advantage
November 3, 2017
In an age of celebrity billionaires, and where anyone who has a ton of money is either a daredevil leader (like Jeff Bezos) or a tech whiz (a la Mark Zuckerberg) or both (looking at you, Elon Musk), two old men sit in their crummy old rooms and read all day. Between them however, they run one of the most successful investment firms of all time, and have generated billions in wealth for investors. I refer of course to Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger.
While they stay out of the limelight most of the time, their speeches and letters to share holders attract a fair crowd. Filled with worldly wisdom and peppered with humor, they are well worth going through. For those not yet interested, or those who can't find the time, The Tao of Charlie Munger is a good primer. It's a simple collection of 138 quotes from Charlie, extracted from various sources, each followed by a commentary from David Clark. The explanations are sketchy at best - a few of them have good examples while some of them miss the point altogether.
The quotes however are excellent, and vintage Charlie, ranging from tips on stock selection to choosing a life partner (hint: what you think is not what really matters), overall on how to lead a successful life. Charlie doesn't require you to have a superhuman intellect or a charismatic personality to get ahead in life.
In fact, most of his advice can be summed up into:
-Read and learn as much as you can.
-Exercise common sense as frequently as you can.
-Be patient.
Maybe in times of constant distraction and instant gratification, this is the kind of advice we need.
Recommended, since it's a quick read, and you wouldn't have lost much time even if you end up disappointed.
While they stay out of the limelight most of the time, their speeches and letters to share holders attract a fair crowd. Filled with worldly wisdom and peppered with humor, they are well worth going through. For those not yet interested, or those who can't find the time, The Tao of Charlie Munger is a good primer. It's a simple collection of 138 quotes from Charlie, extracted from various sources, each followed by a commentary from David Clark. The explanations are sketchy at best - a few of them have good examples while some of them miss the point altogether.
The quotes however are excellent, and vintage Charlie, ranging from tips on stock selection to choosing a life partner (hint: what you think is not what really matters), overall on how to lead a successful life. Charlie doesn't require you to have a superhuman intellect or a charismatic personality to get ahead in life.
In fact, most of his advice can be summed up into:
-Read and learn as much as you can.
-Exercise common sense as frequently as you can.
-Be patient.
Maybe in times of constant distraction and instant gratification, this is the kind of advice we need.
Recommended, since it's a quick read, and you wouldn't have lost much time even if you end up disappointed.
March 2, 2019
If you find Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger fascinating this is a great book to start the journey into their history. It's lighter that shareholder letters and highly entertaining. This book is 138 quotes from Charlie Munger with commentary from David Clark, the author. Quotes range from investing to personal development with a quick stop on marriage and other topics.
I need to dig deeper into Berkshire. An additional benefit was that when I read it to my 6 months old son he got put to sleep in less than 10 minutes.
Enjoyed it tremendously. Highly recommended.
I need to dig deeper into Berkshire. An additional benefit was that when I read it to my 6 months old son he got put to sleep in less than 10 minutes.
Enjoyed it tremendously. Highly recommended.
July 5, 2017
Overall, this was a fun book to read which was basically a compilation of Charlie Munger's quotes with the author interjecting commentary. But a few things detracted from the book.
The author stated that bankers caused the Great Recession with no mentioned of the impact of the CRA law or the Clinton/Bush ownership society policies that were the key reasons for the bankers' actions. Government bureaucrats that Mr Clark thought should have kept the bankers in check were actually pushing banks to lend to sub-prime borrowers. Additionally, there was no mention of the quasi-governmental agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that were pushing banks to create more sub-prime mortgages for them to purchase. Bankers obviously shared blame, but ignoring these critical components of the Great Recession made for a simplistic analysis of a more complex situation.
2. Statements that free trade hurts American jobs were similarly a simplistic reaction to a complicated economic issue. Most economists believe that more trade leads to higher economic growth, and while it may reduce some jobs it also creates new jobs and results in an overall net benefit to the country.
3. The analysis of Charlie Munger's prowess for picking stocks was also too shallow in my opinion. I would have enjoyed more detail on the individual trades and rationale that Munger employed in each instance.
Also, I thought that a few of the author's other points were lacking nuance. However, overall it was a good, high-level look at one of the greatest investors of our time.
The author stated that bankers caused the Great Recession with no mentioned of the impact of the CRA law or the Clinton/Bush ownership society policies that were the key reasons for the bankers' actions. Government bureaucrats that Mr Clark thought should have kept the bankers in check were actually pushing banks to lend to sub-prime borrowers. Additionally, there was no mention of the quasi-governmental agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that were pushing banks to create more sub-prime mortgages for them to purchase. Bankers obviously shared blame, but ignoring these critical components of the Great Recession made for a simplistic analysis of a more complex situation.
2. Statements that free trade hurts American jobs were similarly a simplistic reaction to a complicated economic issue. Most economists believe that more trade leads to higher economic growth, and while it may reduce some jobs it also creates new jobs and results in an overall net benefit to the country.
3. The analysis of Charlie Munger's prowess for picking stocks was also too shallow in my opinion. I would have enjoyed more detail on the individual trades and rationale that Munger employed in each instance.
Also, I thought that a few of the author's other points were lacking nuance. However, overall it was a good, high-level look at one of the greatest investors of our time.
January 13, 2021
«معرفة ما لا تعرفه هو أكثر فائدة من أن تكون ذكيًا»
تشارلي مونغير
تشارلي مونغير
July 18, 2021
Great ideas you won't find from anyone else.
July 22, 2024
Razor sharp wow
May 28, 2021
Breaking down excerpts is the most practically way to understanding the ideology, great read
May 28, 2018
Great.I have decided to become a financial mogul thanks to this book.I also like the idea of getting rich by sitting on my ass and reading.Very helpful commentary by David Clark.
July 16, 2021
Though the book is a collection of Charlie Munger's quotes, which is by itself a pure wisdom, I thoroughly enjoyed the graspable commentary of David Clark.
From betting on good deals to wallstreet's mania to life's philosophy, It deals with a wide range of topics which is fascinating as well as enchanting.
This book certainly deserves more readers.
From betting on good deals to wallstreet's mania to life's philosophy, It deals with a wide range of topics which is fascinating as well as enchanting.
This book certainly deserves more readers.
April 15, 2021
I enjoyed this book. It is laid out like the Tao. Meaning, it is broken into snippets of Charlie Munger wisdom. I enjoyed this, and came across a few pearls that I will not spoil for you.
I read a lot of Munger and Buffet books and think this is a worthy companion.
I read a lot of Munger and Buffet books and think this is a worthy companion.
December 19, 2023
from here, you’ll learn life through charlie’s pov as an investor
I always knew that Buffett has so much wisdom, but Charlie had much more interesting take on investments through his various knowledge.
One ought to read this multiple times to get ahead in his portfolio. This book could function as your book of principle, guiding your thoughts before major decisions in picking the next best investment in your finance, or life.
I always knew that Buffett has so much wisdom, but Charlie had much more interesting take on investments through his various knowledge.
One ought to read this multiple times to get ahead in his portfolio. This book could function as your book of principle, guiding your thoughts before major decisions in picking the next best investment in your finance, or life.
June 6, 2020
# Wisdom expunged from viggeneties of social science, humanities, economy and business, author here compiles and expounds Munger's virtues to bestow on readers the enlightened way to lead in life.#
January 23, 2021
A good collection of quotes from Munger. Some of Clark's commentaries could have been better but most of them were great. This would be a good book for somebody looking to get a brief summary of Munger.
October 11, 2021
Full of wisdom and timeless tidbits from Charlie Munger. Author turned some sophisticated quotes into very simple interpretations
February 18, 2022
Always fun to read anything by or about Charlie. This is by AND about him! Nice, fun, quick read.
April 17, 2020
One of my favorite books, highly recommended!
February 21, 2021
很易读，摘抄解释了charlie的一些核心思想。
有些背景介绍挺有意�� - 尤其是开家具店的Mrs. B，不会读写的俄罗斯老太太，90多岁还能另起炉灶，7x12工作直到103岁。巴菲特基本没做尽调就投了资，because Mrs. B gave her word
有些背景介绍挺有意�� - 尤其是开家具店的Mrs. B，不会读写的俄罗斯老太太，90多岁还能另起炉灶，7x12工作直到103岁。巴菲特基本没做尽调就投了资，because Mrs. B gave her word
August 10, 2024
Great read.
August 11, 2023
Listened on audiobook.
Highest density of wisdom per word I’ve read in a minute.
Will be read and listened to again continuously in the future
Highest density of wisdom per word I’ve read in a minute.
Will be read and listened to again continuously in the future
October 26, 2023
David Clark's dissection of Charlie's famous quotes. Good one if you would like to cross check if you have understood Charlie's quotes correctly or sometimes to view his thoughts in a different perspective.
January 12, 2021
Fascinating. Makes you want to read more about Charlie
July 23, 2019
Charlie is the energizer bunny of learning. I wish he was my grandpa!
Sit on your ass when it comes to investing
Your looking for a mispriced gamble, that's what investing is
Too much diversification and we end up with a zoo
It's the strong swimmers who drown
Go easy on the financial back seat driving
Inflation really helped the banking and insurance industries since the 50 thousand dollar house is now a five hundred thousand dollar house people have to borrow four hundred and fifty thousand dollars more from the bank and there will be a hell of a lot more bank fees for a property loan that size then for a fifty thousand dollar loan the property insurance company is also going to earn a whole lot more on insuring a 500k property then it ever earned insuring a 50k property. Both the bank and the insurance company saw inflation cause a one thousand percent rise in business but neither institution had to add any more employees or increase the size of it's operating plant. Now you know why Charlie and Warren are so big on insurance companies and banks not only are they the perfect hedge against inflation they actually benefit from it. For banks and insurance companies inflation is truly the gift that keeps on giving
Without oil our country would grind to an instant halt. He advocated we should save our oil for a rainy day and burn up Saudi Arabia's oil instead
Leverage up
Does flagstar pay to lobby congress?
The words economy is 60 trillion
Derivatives market is completely unregulated and the bank traders rule the roost
There is no one that's right no one in government in academia or in the banks themselves who has a real grasp of all the dangers that lurk inside the financial bubble the world has ever seen
What are you very interested in?
When you mix raisins with turds you still have turds
Some brand name products own a piece of consumers minds and don't have any direct competition
Long term survivability
What's you debt to equity ratio?
I profit off the debt laden folly of others
Leverage is just another name for debt
Sell cheap and tell the truth
What's your idea of a bargain?
Slug it out one inch at a time day by day
Knowledge like money can compound
I attribute to the compounding effect of knowledge
Quality attracts quality be it in businesses or in marriage
He has helped me to expand my intellect
If people don't have the integrity to admit when they don't know something how can one ever trust them? It is much better to jettison such a person and find someone whith a bit more intellectual honesty.
I'm as interested as knowing what is unknown as in knowing what is known.
The opinion of someone who can't tell the difference is useless
I know I'll perform better if I rub my nose in my mistakes
Failure to handle psychological denial is a common way for people to go broke
Specialization is the key o survival in any species and is the key to success in any business. Specialization protects us from the competition. Why? Because specialization presents a barrier of entry to the competition and the more difficult it is to become specialized the greater the barrier. If all we do is what everyone else does we will spend our lives competing head on with everyone else but if we specialize at something and excel at it the specialization will set us apart from the rest of the crowd. Do we take our Porsche to the local car mechanic who works on everyone's car? Of course not we take it to the shop that specializes in porches it charges us twice the normal hourly rate and gets away with it because it's a Porsche specialist. The same phenomenon holds true for medicine law and even the trades such as plumbing and carpentry. It's a specialists' who make the big bucks everyone else makes the little bucks.
I know how to splurge in between power reads
In my world not being rational is the same as being stupid
I'm an artist who's passion for their work drives and defines they're life. That passion more then raw intelligence tends to determine weather or not we will be successful at what we do.
We are all learning modifying or destroying ideas all the time. Rapid destruction of your ideas when the time is right is one of the most valuable qualities you can acquire. You must force yourself to consider arguments on the other side. This sounds easy but is very difficult to put into practice. People don't like to give up long held ideas dong so makes them uncomfortable and fills them with fear. And change usually requires an enormous amount of work.
My mind is never standing still
Oh it's just so useful dealing with people you can trust and getting all the others the hell out fo your life. It ought to be taught as a catechism that wise want to avoid other people who are just total rat poison and there are a lot of them. We need to jettison our least trustworthy friends and business associates. Trust is the grease that keeps every business running smoothly.
It pays big to keep on learning
If you want wisdom you'll get it by sitting on your ass that's the way it comes...reading
I'm getting more experienced at aging. All the things that are inevitable I refuse to worry about
The secret to getting friends is to be a friend
We should all treat our body like it is the only car we will every own
In marriage look for someone with low expectations the opposite is true in business
As the worlds population increases so does the number of coca cola customers it took 46 years for the words' population to double from 1970 to 2016 and if it takes another 46 to double it again coke could easily double it's servings it sells of all it's 500 brands
It's not greed that drives the world but envy. Envy and jealousy even in small doses will make one utterly miserable
In my whole life I have known no wise people who don't read all the time. My children laugh at me they think I'm a book with a couple of legs sticking out
Manhood is taking life as it falls not whining all the time and trying to fix it by whining.
Son I don't care quitters
Highly leveraged banking system
Do me a favor lie to yourself not to me
May every evil eye in your life go blind
Sit on your ass when it comes to investing
Your looking for a mispriced gamble, that's what investing is
Too much diversification and we end up with a zoo
It's the strong swimmers who drown
Go easy on the financial back seat driving
Inflation really helped the banking and insurance industries since the 50 thousand dollar house is now a five hundred thousand dollar house people have to borrow four hundred and fifty thousand dollars more from the bank and there will be a hell of a lot more bank fees for a property loan that size then for a fifty thousand dollar loan the property insurance company is also going to earn a whole lot more on insuring a 500k property then it ever earned insuring a 50k property. Both the bank and the insurance company saw inflation cause a one thousand percent rise in business but neither institution had to add any more employees or increase the size of it's operating plant. Now you know why Charlie and Warren are so big on insurance companies and banks not only are they the perfect hedge against inflation they actually benefit from it. For banks and insurance companies inflation is truly the gift that keeps on giving
Without oil our country would grind to an instant halt. He advocated we should save our oil for a rainy day and burn up Saudi Arabia's oil instead
Leverage up
Does flagstar pay to lobby congress?
The words economy is 60 trillion
Derivatives market is completely unregulated and the bank traders rule the roost
There is no one that's right no one in government in academia or in the banks themselves who has a real grasp of all the dangers that lurk inside the financial bubble the world has ever seen
What are you very interested in?
When you mix raisins with turds you still have turds
Some brand name products own a piece of consumers minds and don't have any direct competition
Long term survivability
What's you debt to equity ratio?
I profit off the debt laden folly of others
Leverage is just another name for debt
Sell cheap and tell the truth
What's your idea of a bargain?
Slug it out one inch at a time day by day
Knowledge like money can compound
I attribute to the compounding effect of knowledge
Quality attracts quality be it in businesses or in marriage
He has helped me to expand my intellect
If people don't have the integrity to admit when they don't know something how can one ever trust them? It is much better to jettison such a person and find someone whith a bit more intellectual honesty.
I'm as interested as knowing what is unknown as in knowing what is known.
The opinion of someone who can't tell the difference is useless
I know I'll perform better if I rub my nose in my mistakes
Failure to handle psychological denial is a common way for people to go broke
Specialization is the key o survival in any species and is the key to success in any business. Specialization protects us from the competition. Why? Because specialization presents a barrier of entry to the competition and the more difficult it is to become specialized the greater the barrier. If all we do is what everyone else does we will spend our lives competing head on with everyone else but if we specialize at something and excel at it the specialization will set us apart from the rest of the crowd. Do we take our Porsche to the local car mechanic who works on everyone's car? Of course not we take it to the shop that specializes in porches it charges us twice the normal hourly rate and gets away with it because it's a Porsche specialist. The same phenomenon holds true for medicine law and even the trades such as plumbing and carpentry. It's a specialists' who make the big bucks everyone else makes the little bucks.
I know how to splurge in between power reads
In my world not being rational is the same as being stupid
I'm an artist who's passion for their work drives and defines they're life. That passion more then raw intelligence tends to determine weather or not we will be successful at what we do.
We are all learning modifying or destroying ideas all the time. Rapid destruction of your ideas when the time is right is one of the most valuable qualities you can acquire. You must force yourself to consider arguments on the other side. This sounds easy but is very difficult to put into practice. People don't like to give up long held ideas dong so makes them uncomfortable and fills them with fear. And change usually requires an enormous amount of work.
My mind is never standing still
Oh it's just so useful dealing with people you can trust and getting all the others the hell out fo your life. It ought to be taught as a catechism that wise want to avoid other people who are just total rat poison and there are a lot of them. We need to jettison our least trustworthy friends and business associates. Trust is the grease that keeps every business running smoothly.
It pays big to keep on learning
If you want wisdom you'll get it by sitting on your ass that's the way it comes...reading
I'm getting more experienced at aging. All the things that are inevitable I refuse to worry about
The secret to getting friends is to be a friend
We should all treat our body like it is the only car we will every own
In marriage look for someone with low expectations the opposite is true in business
As the worlds population increases so does the number of coca cola customers it took 46 years for the words' population to double from 1970 to 2016 and if it takes another 46 to double it again coke could easily double it's servings it sells of all it's 500 brands
It's not greed that drives the world but envy. Envy and jealousy even in small doses will make one utterly miserable
In my whole life I have known no wise people who don't read all the time. My children laugh at me they think I'm a book with a couple of legs sticking out
Manhood is taking life as it falls not whining all the time and trying to fix it by whining.
Son I don't care quitters
Highly leveraged banking system
Do me a favor lie to yourself not to me
May every evil eye in your life go blind
October 18, 2018
As an eager follower of every word Charlie Munger utters, I anticipated a great read. Instead, David Clark took a selection of Charlie Munger’s quotes and explained them in more detail. Most of the quotes were self-explanatory and his explanations were often repetitive as different quotes espoused the same ideas. I do not recommend.
August 21, 2022
There are better Charlie Munger books out there. While the base content is a collection containing bits of wisdom from Charlie, the author injects a lot of his own take. At times in the book I found this to be an overstretch. In fact, there were many moments where it was unclear if the thoughts presented where Charlie's or the author's.
January 16, 2019
I first listened to the Audible book in just two days. Then I bought the Kindle version so I could go back through and highlight all of the things I found valuable. There is SO much good stuff in here.
January 21, 2025
For one very obvious reason, I finally got around to listening to this one, and I appreciated that it was not just a quote book, but was substantially annotated. This is a solid introduction to the mindset and approach of the late-great Charlie Munger.
August 20, 2018
If you collect quotations from one of the broadest thinkers in business who for decades has delivered witty and wise sayings, you cannot really go wrong. The Tao translates as “the way” or “the path” and what we are served here is the way of Charlie Munger, vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and long business partner to Warren Buffett. Munger’s many sayings have over time gained enough status to be christened as “Mungerisms.”
The reference to Taoism is equally apt when it comes to the format of the book. Just as Lao-tzu, the Taoist collection of saying and proverbs, this is a commented assortment of quotations where David Clark, co-writer of the many Buffettology books does the observing and deciphering of the wise musings of the old master. Buffett obviously has a wonderful way with words but I have always enjoyed Munger’s shorter, sharper and more cynical statements more and Clark has done us all a huge service collecting these quotes. It is a book possible to read in one, albeit long, sitting – but please don’t. Take the time to scribble down how Munger’s thoughts reflect on your investments, business and being. Does this make sense to you? If so, how are you living up to it? What can you change? What can you improve?
The selected quotations are grouped into four parts covering investing, banking and the economy, business and philosophizing on life at large. Sections one and three are delivered with authority and Ben Graham’s saying that investing is the most intelligent when it is most businesslike springs to mind. At the same time the investing of Munger and Berkshire Hathaway is hardly unknown material due to the vast coverage of Buffett’s investing success.
The danger with adding commentary is that it isn’t always better to say something in a lengthier format when it has already been delivered crisp and clear in a short pitchy way. There is a balance to be kept to not over-explain things. Clark is mostly on the right side of the tracks but he delivers rather similar explanations to many of the quotes and is forced to add quite a few “as we have said earlier”.
Further, just as it comes to later commentary of, say old Taoist texts, it is always possible to debate if the interpretation of the original scriptures from one specific scholar is optimal. Occasionally I would have chosen to make alternative reflections. I think the selection of quotes Clark has made is a good one. Perhaps it could have hade been tilted a tad more towards psychology given Munger’s wisdom in the area. There are few real gems missing apart from this favorite on investing “It’s not supposed to be easy. Anyone who finds it easy is stupid.” – a typical Mungerism in it’s lack of flattery.
The second part of the book is the least interesting - but every time one hears figures about the gross exposure of global derivatives one marvels. The best and most inspiring part is the fourth, on Life, Education and the Pursuit of Happiness. Below are some of our favorites. “Being rational is a moral imperative. You should never be stupider than you need to be”; “Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. Discharge your duties faithfully and well. Slug it out one inch at a time, day by day. At the end of the day – if you live long enough – most people get what they deserve” and especially close to our heart “In my whole life, I have known no wise people who didn’t read all the time – none, zero. You’d 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.” Amen. If you ever find yourself hesitating over a decision, simply ask yourself “What would Charlie Munger do?”
The reference to Taoism is equally apt when it comes to the format of the book. Just as Lao-tzu, the Taoist collection of saying and proverbs, this is a commented assortment of quotations where David Clark, co-writer of the many Buffettology books does the observing and deciphering of the wise musings of the old master. Buffett obviously has a wonderful way with words but I have always enjoyed Munger’s shorter, sharper and more cynical statements more and Clark has done us all a huge service collecting these quotes. It is a book possible to read in one, albeit long, sitting – but please don’t. Take the time to scribble down how Munger’s thoughts reflect on your investments, business and being. Does this make sense to you? If so, how are you living up to it? What can you change? What can you improve?
The selected quotations are grouped into four parts covering investing, banking and the economy, business and philosophizing on life at large. Sections one and three are delivered with authority and Ben Graham’s saying that investing is the most intelligent when it is most businesslike springs to mind. At the same time the investing of Munger and Berkshire Hathaway is hardly unknown material due to the vast coverage of Buffett’s investing success.
The danger with adding commentary is that it isn’t always better to say something in a lengthier format when it has already been delivered crisp and clear in a short pitchy way. There is a balance to be kept to not over-explain things. Clark is mostly on the right side of the tracks but he delivers rather similar explanations to many of the quotes and is forced to add quite a few “as we have said earlier”.
Further, just as it comes to later commentary of, say old Taoist texts, it is always possible to debate if the interpretation of the original scriptures from one specific scholar is optimal. Occasionally I would have chosen to make alternative reflections. I think the selection of quotes Clark has made is a good one. Perhaps it could have hade been tilted a tad more towards psychology given Munger’s wisdom in the area. There are few real gems missing apart from this favorite on investing “It’s not supposed to be easy. Anyone who finds it easy is stupid.” – a typical Mungerism in it’s lack of flattery.
The second part of the book is the least interesting - but every time one hears figures about the gross exposure of global derivatives one marvels. The best and most inspiring part is the fourth, on Life, Education and the Pursuit of Happiness. Below are some of our favorites. “Being rational is a moral imperative. You should never be stupider than you need to be”; “Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. Discharge your duties faithfully and well. Slug it out one inch at a time, day by day. At the end of the day – if you live long enough – most people get what they deserve” and especially close to our heart “In my whole life, I have known no wise people who didn’t read all the time – none, zero. You’d 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.” Amen. If you ever find yourself hesitating over a decision, simply ask yourself “What would Charlie Munger do?”
August 21, 2021
A short and must read book if you know Charlie Munger. He is like a grandfather to me, full of knowledge. According to his own grandsons - "He is like a book couple of legs sticking out." He will inspire you a lot to read more.
Here are few famous quotes from him
**Learning Machines
“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.”
**On career
“Three rules for a career: (1) Don’t sell anything you wouldn’t buy yourself; (2) Don’t work for anyone you don’t respect and admire; and (3) Work only with people you enjoy.”
**One step at a time
“Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. Discharge your duties faithfully and well. Slug it out one inch at a time, day by day. At the end of the day—if you live long enough—most people get what they deserve.”
**On master Plans
“At Berkshire there has never been a master plan. Anyone who wanted to do it, we fired because it takes on a life of its own and doesn’t cover new reality. We want people taking into account new information.”
**Two kind of businesses
“There are two kinds of businesses: The first earns 12%, and you can take it out at the end of the year. The second earns 12%, but all the excess cash must be reinvested—there’s never any cash. It reminds me of the guy who looks at all of his equipment and says, ‘There’s all of my profit.’ We hate that kind of business.”–
**When to bet heavily
“You should remember that good ideas are rare—when the odds are greatly in your favor, bet heavily.”
**Fast money
“The desire to get rich fast is pretty dangerous.”
**Walking away
“Life, in part, is like a poker game, wherein you have to learn to quit sometimes when holding a much-loved hand—you must learn to handle mistakes and new facts that change the odds.”
**Avoid being an idiot
“People are trying to be smart—all I am trying to do is not to be idiotic, but it’s harder than most people think.”
**Missed chances
“I think the attitude of Epictetus is the best. He thought that every missed chance in life was an opportunity to behave well, every missed chance in life was an opportunity to learn something, and that your duty was not to be submerged in self-pity, but to utilize the terrible blow in constructive fashion. That is a very good idea.”
**Tragedy
“You should never, when faced with one unbelievable tragedy, let one tragedy increase into two or three because of a failure of will.”–
Here are few famous quotes from him
**Learning Machines
“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.”
**On career
“Three rules for a career: (1) Don’t sell anything you wouldn’t buy yourself; (2) Don’t work for anyone you don’t respect and admire; and (3) Work only with people you enjoy.”
**One step at a time
“Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. Discharge your duties faithfully and well. Slug it out one inch at a time, day by day. At the end of the day—if you live long enough—most people get what they deserve.”
**On master Plans
“At Berkshire there has never been a master plan. Anyone who wanted to do it, we fired because it takes on a life of its own and doesn’t cover new reality. We want people taking into account new information.”
**Two kind of businesses
“There are two kinds of businesses: The first earns 12%, and you can take it out at the end of the year. The second earns 12%, but all the excess cash must be reinvested—there’s never any cash. It reminds me of the guy who looks at all of his equipment and says, ‘There’s all of my profit.’ We hate that kind of business.”–
**When to bet heavily
“You should remember that good ideas are rare—when the odds are greatly in your favor, bet heavily.”
**Fast money
“The desire to get rich fast is pretty dangerous.”
**Walking away
“Life, in part, is like a poker game, wherein you have to learn to quit sometimes when holding a much-loved hand—you must learn to handle mistakes and new facts that change the odds.”
**Avoid being an idiot
“People are trying to be smart—all I am trying to do is not to be idiotic, but it’s harder than most people think.”
**Missed chances
“I think the attitude of Epictetus is the best. He thought that every missed chance in life was an opportunity to behave well, every missed chance in life was an opportunity to learn something, and that your duty was not to be submerged in self-pity, but to utilize the terrible blow in constructive fashion. That is a very good idea.”
**Tragedy
“You should never, when faced with one unbelievable tragedy, let one tragedy increase into two or three because of a failure of will.”–
July 22, 2022
The quotes were fun to read, the commentary was okay but not sure it merited a full "book."
Munger was born in Omaha on New Year's Day 1924. Charlie started at the University of Michigan but dropped out after Pearl Harbor to join the US Army Air Corps (when he turned 19 years old). He was sent to Caltech to study meteorology but did not have an undergrad degree.
Nevertheless, he applied to HLS (his father was an alum) but was rejected. However, a family friend and former Dean was able to call the admissions office to change their mind. He graduated magna cum laude in 1948 and practiced law for several years before realizing it wasn't a good fit.
Favorites quotes include:
"People are trying to be smart - all I am trying to do is not be idiotic, but it's harder than most people think."
"The way to get rich is to keep $10M in your checking account in case a good deal comes along."
"In terms of business mistakes that I've seen over a long lifetime, I would say that trying to minimize taxes too much is one of the great standard causes of really dumb mistakes. Anytime somebody offers you a tax shelter from here on in life, my advice would be don't buy it."
"You have to be very patient, you have to wait until something comes along, which, at the price you're paying, is easy. That's contrary to human nature, just to sit there all day long doing nothing, waiting. It's easy for us, we have a lot of other things to do. But for an ordinary person, can you imagine just sitting for five years doing nothing? You don't feel active, you don't feel useful; so you do something stupid."
"When you mix raisins with turds, you still have turds."
"Oh, it's just so useful dealing with people you can trust and getting all the others the hell out of your life. It out to be taught as a catechism. But wise people want to avoid other people who are just total rat poison, and there are a lot of them."
"In my whole life, I have known no wise people who didn't read all the time - none, zero. You'd 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 don't think it's terribly constructive to spend your time worrying about things you can't fix. As long as when you are managing your money you recognize that a terrible thing is going to happen, in the rest of your life you can be a foolish optimist."
Munger was born in Omaha on New Year's Day 1924. Charlie started at the University of Michigan but dropped out after Pearl Harbor to join the US Army Air Corps (when he turned 19 years old). He was sent to Caltech to study meteorology but did not have an undergrad degree.
Nevertheless, he applied to HLS (his father was an alum) but was rejected. However, a family friend and former Dean was able to call the admissions office to change their mind. He graduated magna cum laude in 1948 and practiced law for several years before realizing it wasn't a good fit.
Favorites quotes include:
"People are trying to be smart - all I am trying to do is not be idiotic, but it's harder than most people think."
"The way to get rich is to keep $10M in your checking account in case a good deal comes along."
"In terms of business mistakes that I've seen over a long lifetime, I would say that trying to minimize taxes too much is one of the great standard causes of really dumb mistakes. Anytime somebody offers you a tax shelter from here on in life, my advice would be don't buy it."
"You have to be very patient, you have to wait until something comes along, which, at the price you're paying, is easy. That's contrary to human nature, just to sit there all day long doing nothing, waiting. It's easy for us, we have a lot of other things to do. But for an ordinary person, can you imagine just sitting for five years doing nothing? You don't feel active, you don't feel useful; so you do something stupid."
"When you mix raisins with turds, you still have turds."
"Oh, it's just so useful dealing with people you can trust and getting all the others the hell out of your life. It out to be taught as a catechism. But wise people want to avoid other people who are just total rat poison, and there are a lot of them."
"In my whole life, I have known no wise people who didn't read all the time - none, zero. You'd 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 don't think it's terribly constructive to spend your time worrying about things you can't fix. As long as when you are managing your money you recognize that a terrible thing is going to happen, in the rest of your life you can be a foolish optimist."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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