MYM #022: 10 Lessons From Charlie Munger

By: Fran Walsh

Read Time: 4 minutes

In this week's newsletter - we are going to take a week to step away from our traditional financial topics & focus on honoring the life of the great Charlie Munger, who passed away last week at the age of 99. Charlie was a pioneer in the financial space, and has been widely regarded as one of the wisest investors in history.

Charlie was famous for his witty wisdom in both the financial space & just regarding life in general. He has hundreds of quotes out there, which made it extremely difficult to pick our 10 favorites. But here goes; here are 10 lessons from Charlie Munger that everyone needs to hear:

1. “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.”

2. “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.”

3. “To get what you want, you have to deserve what you want. The world is not yet a crazy enough place to reward a whole bunch of undeserving people.”

4. “There is no better teacher than history in determining the future... There are answers worth billions of dollars in 30$ history book.”

5. “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.”

6. “A lot of people with high IQs are terrible investors because they’ve got terrible temperaments. And that is why we say that having a certain kind of temperament is more important than brains. You need to keep raw irrational emotion under control. You need patience and discipline and an ability to take losses and adversity without going crazy. You need an ability to not be driven crazy by extreme success.”

7. “The best armour of old age is a well spent life preceding it.”

8. "The best thing a human being can do is to help another human being know more."

9. "The big money is not in the buying and selling, but in the waiting."

10. "I never allow myself to have an opinion on anything that I don't know the other side's argument better than they do."

Charlie was a man who impacted thousands of people through his philosophies, and will continue to do so for years to come through his books, quotes, and famous clips. If you are someone who is interested in learning more about the way he thought about both finance & the world, check out his Almanack - one of the best reads you can find.

Conclusion:

Charlie Munger has certainly made a huge impact on us here at Opulus. In our office we have a "Quote of the Week" that we put up on a big board. Many times it will be something from Charlie or Warren. We hope at least one of these life lessons from him will stick with you - if not multiple!

Actionable Tip:

“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.”