Rest in Peace, Charlie Munger
“I am trying to emulate my great-grandfather. When he died, they said about him, ‘Nobody envied the success, so fairly won and wisely used.’” —Charlie Munger
Charlie Munger, a hero of mine and many others, has died at the age of 99.
Charlie changed my life. When I started studying him and his multidisciplinary approach to life and learning, a spark went off inside me that changed how I did everything. While I’ll miss him—and his continuing wit and wisdom—I’m so thankful that we all had so long with Charlie to guide and teach us.
In the Expanded Third Edition of Poor Charlie’s Almanack, Charlie added some of his reflections on aging to the new edition, which included the quote:
“The best Armour of Old Age is a well-spent life preceding it.”
Charlie earned his Armour through living well and just, with the morality and wit he praised. I feel lucky that, for the last couple of decades—and, hopefully, many more going forward—there probably hasn’t been a day that has gone by where he hasn’t come to my mind in one way or another. And that was even before my wife and I named our son Charlie.
Rest in peace, Charlie Munger.
Some of my favorite Charlie quotes:
“If all you succeed in doing in your life is to get early rich from passive holding of little bits of paper, and you get better and better at only that for all your life, it’s a failed life. Life is more than being shrewd at passive wealth accumulation.” —Charlie Munger
“The game of life is the game of everlasting learning. At least it is if you want to win.” —Charlie Munger
“The safest way to try to get what you want is to try to deserve what you want. It’s such a simple idea. It’s the golden rule. You want to deliver to the world what you would buy if you were on the other end. There is no ethos in my opinion that is better for any lawyer or any other person to have. By and large, the people who’ve had this ethos win in life, and they don’t win just money and honors. They win the respect, the deserved trust of the people they deal with. And there is huge pleasure in life to be obtained from getting deserved trust.” —Charlie Munger
“Your life must focus on the maximization of objectivity.” —Charlie Munger
“A few major opportunities, clearly recognizable as such, will usually come to one who continuously searches and waits, with a curious mind, loving diagnosis involving multiple variables. And then all that is required is a willingness to bet heavily when the odds are extremely favorable, using resources available as a result of prudence and patience in the past.” —Charlie Munger
“You need to have a passionate interest in why things are happening. That cast of mind, kept over long periods, gradually improves your ability to focus on reality. If you don’t have that cast of mind, you’re destined for failure even if you have a high I.Q.” —Charlie Munger
“Here’s one truth that perhaps your typical investment counselor would disagree with: if you're comfortably rich and someone else is getting richer faster than you by, for example, investing in risky stocks, so what?! Someone will always be getting richer faster than you. This is not a tragedy.” —Charlie Munger
“You’ve got to have models in your head and you’ve got to array you experience – both vicarious and direct – onto this latticework of mental models.” —Charlie Munger
“Acquire worldly wisdom and adjust your behavior accordingly. If your new behavior gives you a little temporary unpopularity with your peer group… then to hell with them.” —Charlie Munger
“If it is wisdom you’re after, you’re going to spend a lot of time on your ass reading.” —Charlie Munger
“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 -- at how much I read. My children laugh at me. They think I’m a book with a couple of legs sticking out.” —Charlie Munger
“Warren and I 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.” —Charlie Munger
“Let me use a little inversion now. What will really fail in life? What do we want to avoid? Some answers are easy. For example, sloth and unreliability will fail. If you’re unreliable it doesn't matter what your virtues are, you’re going to crater immediately. So, faithfully doing what you’ve engaged to do should be an automatic part of your conduct.” —Charlie Munger
“Hard work, honesty, if you keep at it, will get you almost anything.” —Charlie Munger
In case you’re in the mood to watch and read some Charlie this week, here are some links:
Charlie Munger Commencement Address - USC (2007)
Charlie Munger - Caltech 2008 DuBridge Distinguished Lecture in Beckman Auditorium
A Conversation with Charlie Munger (2011)
A Conversation with Charlie Munger and Michigan Ross - 2017
A Conversation with 2020 Distinguished Alumnus Charles T. Munger
Charles Munger Interview: The Power of Partnership with Warren Buffett
Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2022
Daily Journal’s Shareholders Meeting — 2/15/2023
I cried this morning when I opened the news. So sad like I am losing my great Grandpa.