You're looking for a mispriced gamble. That's what investing is. And you have to know enough to know whether the gamble is mispriced. That's value investing. Charlie Munger More Quotes by Charlie Munger More Quotes From Charlie Munger Those who will not face improvements because they are changes, will face changes that are not improvements. Charlie Munger improvement faces Any year that you don't destroy one of your best-loved ideas is probably a wasted year Charlie Munger years ideas When you mix raisins and turds, you've still got turds. Charlie Munger turds raisins stills Those who keep learning, will keep rising in life Charlie Munger keep-learning rising I do not think you can trust bankers to control themselves. They are like heroin addicts. Charlie Munger banking bankers thinking You have to know accounting. It's the language of practical business life. It was a very useful thing to deliver to civilization. I've heard it came to civilization through Venice which of course was once the great commercial power in the Mediterranean. However, double entry bookkeeping was a hell of an invention. Charlie Munger business power civilization I got at a very early age, the idea that the safest way to try and get what you want, is to try and deserve what you want. Charlie Munger simple trying ideas We get these questions a lot from the enterprising young. It's a very intelligent question: You look at some old guy who's rich and you ask, 'How can I become like you, except faster?' Charlie Munger discipline intelligent long For many of our shareholders, our stock is all they own, and we're acutely aware of that. Our culture [of conservatism] runs pretty deep. Charlie Munger conservatism running culture You don't have to be brilliant, only a little bit wiser than the other guys, on average, for a long, long, time. Charlie Munger guy average long Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. Charlie Munger slugs investing trying Step by step you get ahead, but rarely in fast spurts. Charlie Munger get-ahead steps You need a different checklist and different mental models for different companies. I can never make it easy by saying, 'Here are three things.' You have to derive it yourself to ingrain it in your head for the rest of your life. Charlie Munger three different needs There are exceptional loyalties and there are old fashion ideas about how you get loyalties, and after all the auditorium is full of people who have co-owned shares with the managers for many decades, and in many cases they co-invested when everyone was young and obscure. Also when you come back to a place like that you are celebrating old loyalties, and of course the basic idea behind so much of Berkshire is the old fashioned idea that the best way to get loyalty is to deserve loyalty. Charlie Munger fashion loyalty ideas If you turn on the television, you'll find the mothers of the most obvious criminals that man could ever diagnose, and they all think their sons are innocent. That's simple psychological denial. The reality is too painful to bear, so you just distort it until it's bearable. We all do that to some extent, and it's a common psychological misjudgment that causes terrible problems. Charlie Munger simple mother son The theory of modern education is that you need a general education before you specialize. And I think to some extent, before you're going to be a great stock picker, you need some general education. Charlie Munger modern needs thinking We both (Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett) 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. Charlie Munger warren-buffet uncommon thinking I get flack for saying [when I visit a college and give a speech], "This is a nice college, but the really great educator is McDonald's." They hate me for saying this and think I'm a slimy creature. But McDonald's hires people with bad work habits, trains them, and teaches them to come to work on time and have good work habits. I think a lot of what goes on there is better than at Harvard. Charlie Munger nice hate college When we were young, there weren't very many smart people in the investment world. You should have seen the people in the bank trust departments. Now, there are armies of smart people at private investment funds, etc . If there were a crisis now, there would be a lot more people with a lot of money ready to take advantage. Charlie Munger smart army should-have See's candy company was the first high-quality business we ever bought. Charlie Munger company quality firsts
