The SEC does way more good than harm - the last thing I would do is get rid of the SEC...if accounting were thoroughly fixed, a lot of other sins would go away. We're paying a huge price for deterioration of accounting. Charlie Munger More Quotes by Charlie Munger More Quotes From Charlie Munger It took us months of buying all the Coke stock we could to accumulate $1 billion worth - equal to 7% of the company. It's very hard to accumulate major positions. Charlie Munger coke buying months My idea of a good place to shop is Costco - it has these heavily marbled fillet steaks. The idea of eating some wheat thing and washing it down with carrot juice has never appealed to me. Charlie Munger juice wheat ideas Wrigley is a great business, but that doesn't solve the problem. Buying great businesses at advantageous prices is very tough. Charlie Munger great-business tough buying 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 when they got up. And, boy, does that habit help, particularly when you have a long run ahead of you. Charlie Munger running night boys A few public hangings will really change behavior. One of our Presidents said if he could execute three people each year for no cause, it would make it a lot easier to govern. When someone said that's not enough, he said, "Oh yes it is, because I'd publish the list of people under consideration." Charlie Munger president people years Trying to prioritize among things we're unlikely to do is pretty fruitless. Charlie Munger unlikely prioritize trying Wall Street has too much wealth and political power. Charlie Munger wall political too-much I think gold is a great thing to sew onto your garments if you're a Jewish family in Vienna in 1939, but civilized people don't buy gold, they invest in productive businesses. Charlie Munger gold people thinking I have a black belt in chutzpah. I was born with it. Some people, like some of the women I know, have a black belt in spending. They were born with that. But what they gave me was a black belt in chutzpah. Charlie Munger born black people "[Lawyers who file class-action securities suits] is not a group you would want to marry into your family. "That said, more than half the time the people being sued by the Lerach firm are guilty of outrageous conduct. The problem is, they don't mind (suing) the other half. They are an equal opportunity litigator." Charlie Munger class opportunity people You don't want to be like the motion picture exec who had so many people at his funeral, but they were there just make sure he was dead. Or how about the guy who, at his funeral, the priest said, "Won't anyone stand up and say anything nice for the deceased?" and finally someone said, "Well, his brother was worse." Charlie Munger nice brother people I find it quite useful to think of a free-market economy - or partly free market economy - as sort of the equivalent of an ecosystem. Just as animals flourish in niches, people who specialize in some narrow niche can do very well. Charlie Munger ecosystems animal thinking The name of the game is continuing to learn. Even if you're very well trained and have some natural aptitude, you still need to keep learning. Charlie Munger continuing-to-learn names games We look for a horse with one chance in two of winning and which pays you three to one. Charlie Munger horse winning two The liabilities are always 100 percent good. It's the assets you have to worry about. Charlie Munger liability assets worry With Congress and the S.E.C. so heavily peopled by lawyers, and with lawyers having been so heavily involved in drafting financial disclosure documents now seen as bogus, there was a new "lawyer" joke every week. One such was: "The butcher says 'the reputation of lawyers has fallen dramatically', and the check-out clerk replies: "How do you fall dramatically off a pancake? Charlie Munger clerks pancakes fall We have the same problem as everyone else: It's very hard to predict the future. Charlie Munger hard problem We have a history when things are really horrible of wading in when no one else will. Charlie Munger horrible Let me know what your problem is, and I will try to make it more difficult for you. Charlie Munger difficult problem trying 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. Charlie Munger hate two years
