Warren Buffett took over Berkshire Hathaway in 1965, and Charlie Munger was giving him advice from very early on, long before he became vice-chairman in 1978.
Thanks to the two of them, Berkshire Hathaway manages over a trillion dollars in assets, and both became billionaires. Buffett built a larger public profile, but both are legends in the investing world.
Both of them were also known for “value investing.” They’d buy underpriced assets they understood extremely well that also had a big competitive advantage and were likely to be profitable for a long time.
This is not a sexy way to invest, and they missed a few opportunities because of that, but their philosophy was wildly successful over the long term, and investors paid close attention. Their Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders meetings were called “Woodstock for capitalists,” and they drew as many as 40,000 people who came to hear Buffett and Munger talk and answer questions for hours.
Philosophically, there are a few things I disagree with both of them on (Bitcoin is one big example). Still, they’re both brilliant people who were extremely successful for an extremely long time, and, as you can see from these quotes, there’s a lot we can all learn from them.
30) “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
29) “It’s never paid to bet against America. We come through things, but it’s not always a smooth ride.” -- Warren Buffett
28) “I think the reason why we got into such idiocy in investment management is best illustrated by a story that I tell about the guy who sold fishing tackle. I asked him, ‘My God, they’re purple and green. Do fish really take these lures?’ And he said, ‘Mister, I don’t sell to fish.’” -- Charlie Munger
27) “It’s only when the tide goes out that you learn who’s been swimming naked.” -- Warren Buffett
26) “Opportunities come infrequently. When it rains gold, put out the bucket, not the thimble.” -- Warren Buffett
25) “Predicting rain doesn’t count. Building arks does.” -- Warren Buffett
24) “Capitalism without failure is like religion without Hell.” -- Charlie Munger
23) “The most important thing to do if you find yourself in a hole is to stop digging.” -- Warren Buffett
22) “The safest way to get what you want is to deserve what you want.” -- Charlie Munger
21) “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.” -- Charlie Munger
20) “Envy is a really stupid sin because it’s the only one you could never possibly have any fun at. There’s a lot of pain and no fun. Why would you want to get on that trolley?” -- Charlie Munger
19) “It’s the work on your desk. Do well with what you already have, and more will come in.” -- Charlie Munger
18) “I never allow myself to hold an opinion on anything that I don’t know the other side’s argument better than they do.” -- Charlie Munger
17) “Too often, a vast collection of possessions ends up possessing its owner. The asset I most value, aside from health, is interesting, diverse, and long-standing friends.” -- Warren Buffett
16) “Most people get interested in stocks when everyone else is. The time to get interested is when no one else is. You can’t buy what is popular and do well.” -- Warren Buffett
15) “Another thing, of course, is life will have terrible blows, horrible blows, unfair blows. Doesn’t matter. And some people recover, and others don’t. And there I think the attitude of Epictetus is the best. He thought that every mischance in life was an opportunity to behave well. Every mischance in life was an opportunity to learn something, and your duty was not to be submerged in self-pity, but to utilize the terrible blow in a constructive fashion. That is a very good idea.” -- Charlie Munger
14) “Never ask a barber if you need a haircut.” -- Warren Buffett
13) “Anything can happen anytime in markets. And no advisor, economist, or TV commentator - and definitely not Charlie nor I - can tell you when chaos will occur. Market forecasters will fill your ear but will never fill your wallet.” -- Warren Buffett
12) “Only buy something that you’d be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years.” -- Warren Buffett
11) “It’s not supposed to be easy. Anyone who finds it easy is stupid.” -- Charlie Munger
10) “You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong.” -- Warren Buffett
9) “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” -- Warren Buffett
8) “The iron rule of nature is you get what you reward for. If you want ants to come, you put sugar on the floor.” -- Charlie Munger
7) “What the wise do in the beginning, fools do in the end.” -- Warren Buffett
6) “Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” -- Warren Buffett
5) “No matter how great the talent or efforts, some things just take time. You can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.” -- Warren Buffett
4) “You’d be amazed at how much long-term advantage you get by refusing to be actively stupid.” -- Charlie Munger
3) “Mimicking the herd invites regression to the mean (merely average performance).” -- Charlie Munger
2) “Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No. 1.” -- Warren Buffett
1) “Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.” -- Warren Buffett
Thanks for posting, John. Good life advice as well.
Hawkins: I'm curious. What is your opinion of Bitcoin and crypto currencies?