Charlie Munger was one month away from his 100th birthday.
For a man like that, a century on earth still isn’t enough.
Warren Buffet’s right-hand man for over 50 years, his wisdom was unmatched which led to so many of the lessons I’ve learned as an investor and business owner.
The most important of those is doing what you love. He was STILL Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and looking for deals with Warren as of Monday.
I can only hope I’ll still be running Financial Zen in 54 years..
Here are some of the other ones that have had the most impact on me.
ON OUR PURPOSE…
“The best thing a human being can do is help another human being know more.”
ON THE WISDOM OF SIMPLICITY…
“It’s remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent.” —CHARLIE MUNGER, WESCO ANNUAL REPORT, 1989
ON INVESTING…
“The number one idea is to view a stock as an ownership of the business.” —CHARLIE MUNGER, HARVARD LAW BULLETIN, 2001
ON COMPARING YOURSELF TO OTHERS…
“The idea of caring that someone is making money faster [than you] is one of the deadly sins. Envy is a really stupid sin because it’s the only one you could never possibly have any fun at.” —CHARLIE MUNGER, WESCO ANNUAL MEETING, 2003
ON LIFELONG LEARNING…
“Develop into a lifelong self-learner through voracious reading; cultivate curiosity and strive to become a little wiser every day. —CHARLIE MUNGER, POOR CHARLIE’S ALMANACK, 2005
ON DOING THE RIGHT THING…
“We early knew how advantageous that would be to get a reputation for doing the right thing and it’s worked out well for us. As my friend Peter Kaufman said, “If the rascals really knew how well honor worked, they would come to it.” It really has worked well. People make contracts with Berkshire all the time because they trust us to behave well where we have the power and they don’t.” —CHARLIE MUNGER, BERKSHIRE ANNUAL MEETING, 2011
ON INTEGRITY…
“Remember that reputation and integrity are your most valuable assets—and can be lost in a heartbeat.” —CHARLIE MUNGER, POOR CHARLIE’S ALMANACK, 2005
Rest in peace, Charlie.
The world is a better place because you were in it.
