11 Common-Sense Quotes From the Late, Great Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s Investing Partner

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11 Common-Sense Quotes From the Late, Great Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s Investing Partner

By Minda Zetlin | Inc Magazine | November 29, 2023

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Charles T. Munger, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett’s closest associate, died Tuesday, at age 99. He would have turned 100 on New Year’s Day.

Munger, like Buffett, was born in Omaha. In addition to helping Buffett run Berkshire Hathaway, he was a real estate lawyer, publisher, and, like Buffett, a philanthropist who made donations in the hundreds of millions and sometimes billions. He was also the former CEO of Wesco Financial, a job he held when Berkshire Hathaway acquired all shares of the company in 2011.  Munger was credited with changing Buffett’s investment strategy to what it is today.  His numerous quotes are a delightful combination of common sense, investing insight, and tough love. Here are some of the best.

1. The importance of learning …  “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.”
2. … And of reading.  “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 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.”
3. Good ideas can be worse than bad ones.  “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 [Ben 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.”
4. You must be willing to destroy your own ideas.  “We all are 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.”
5. What’s wrong with “synergy”.  “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.”
6. The importance of learning history.  “There is no better teacher than history in determining the future … There are answers worth billions of dollars in a $30 history book.”
7. How Romans built their arches.  “An example of a really responsible system is the system the Romans used when they built an arch. The guy who created the arch stood under it as the scaffolding was removed. It’s like packing your own parachute.”
8. Why objectivity is a superpower.  “It’s kind of fun to sit there and outthink people who are way smarter than you are because you’ve trained yourself to be more objective and more multidisciplinary. 
9. Why envy is dumb.  “The idea of caring that someone is making money faster [than you are] 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. 
10. The importance of unstructured thinking time.  “We both insist on a lot of time being available almost every day to just sit and think. That is very uncommon in American business. We read and think. So Warren and I do more reading and thinking and less doing than most people in business.”
11. Old age.  And one final quote:  “The best armor of old age is a well spent life preceding it.”

2 key takeaways from the article

1. Charles T. Munger, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett’s closest associate, died Tuesday, at age 99.  Munger was credited with changing Buffett’s investment strategy to what it is today.
2. His numerous quotes are a delightful combination of common sense, investing insight, and tough love. Here are some of the best.   I constantly see people rise in life who are not the smartest, sometimes not even the most diligent, but they are learning machines.  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.  Good ideas are a wonderful way to suffer terribly if you overdo them.  You must be willing to destroy your own ideas.  Berkshire is full of synergies–we don’t avoid synergies, just claims of synergies.  There is no better teacher than history in determining the future.  It’s kind of fun to sit there and outthink people who are way smarter than you are because you’ve trained yourself to be more objective and more multidisciplinary.  An example of a really responsible system is the system the Romans used when they built an arch. The guy who created the arch stood under it as the scaffolding was removed. The idea of caring that someone is making money faster [than you are] is one of the deadly sins.  Warren and I do more reading and thinking and less doing than most people in business.  And the best armor of old age is a well spent life preceding it.

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Topics:  Leadership, Investing, Entrepreneurship