Charlie Munger’s best quotes on investing, life and everything in between | CNN Business (2024)

Charlie Munger’s best quotes on investing, life and everything in between | CNN Business (1)

Munger was known for his pithy and often humorous remarks on investing, life and more.

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Billionaire investor Charlie Munger, vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and long-time friend to Warren Buffett, died on Tuesday. He was 99 years old.

Munger was known for his quick wit, life-long passion for learning and old-school approach to investing. Munger leaves behind a colossal legacy that extends from Wall Street to Main Street.

“His impact went far beyond the investing world. People discovered him, thinking that they would learn about ways to make money, but they got so much more,” Whitney Tilson, an investor and expert on both Buffett and Munger, told Before the Bell. “He talked about a latticework of how an intelligent person needs to read and study a wide range of subjects. He said ‘if all you have is a hammer, the world looks like a nail.’”

Munger, who was worth $2.7 billion according to Forbes, was revered for his pithy and often humorous remarks on investing, life and more. He often employed what Tilson calls Munger-isms to simply convey very complex concepts.

His speeches and writings, compiled in books like “Poor Charlie’s Almanack,” are considered essential reading for anyone interested in business, investing or the art of clear thinking.

Here are some of his most memorable musings.

On investing in tech:

“We were not ideally located to be high-tech wizards. How many people of our age quickly mastered Google? I’ve been to Google headquarters. It looked to me like a kindergarten.” - Berkshire Hathaway meeting, 2018

On algorithmic trading:

“We have computers with algorithms trading against other computers. We’ve got people who know nothing about stocks, being advised by stockbrokers who know even less.” - Berkshire Hathaway 2022 meeting

On learning:

“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 help—particularly when you have a long run ahead of you.” - 2007 USC Law School Commencement Address

On sitting tight:

“There are huge advantages for an individual to get into a position where you make a few great investments and just sit on your a**: You are paying less to brokers. You are listening to less nonsense. And if it works, the governmental tax system gives you an extra 1, 2 or 3 percentage points per annum compounded.” - Worldly Wisdom by Charlie Munger 1995 - 1998

On marriage:

“I think life is a whole series of opportunity costs. You know, you got to marry the best person who is convenient to find who will have you. Investment is much the same sort of a process.” - 1997 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting

On the government deficit:

“A man who jumps out of a building is OK until he hits the ground.” - 2023 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting

On mastering our emotions:

“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.” - Kiplinger interview, 2005

On problem solving:

“Invert, always invert: Turn a situation or problem upside down. Look at it backward.” - Poor Charlie’s Almanack

On passion:

“You’ll do better if you have passion for something in which you have aptitude. If Warren Buffett had gone into ballet, no one would have heard of him.” – Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, 2008

On mismanagement:

“Invest in a business any fool can run, because someday a fool will. If it won’t stand a little mismanagement, it’s not much of a business.” - Poor Charlie’s Almanack

On inflation:

“If I can be optimistic when I’m nearly dead, surely the rest of you can handle a little inflation” – 2010 annual Berkshire Hathaway meeting.

On success:

“It’s so simple. You spend less than you earn. Invest shrewdly, and avoid toxic people and toxic activities, and try and keep learning all your life, etcetera etcetera. And do a lot of deferred gratification because you prefer life that way. And if you do all those things you are almost certain to succeed. And if you don’t, you’re gonna need a lot of luck.” - Poor Charlie’s Almanack

On old age:

“The best armor of old age is a well spent life preceding it.” – Tao of Charlie Munger: A Compilation of Quotes from Berkshire Hathaway’s Vice Chairman on Life, Business, and the Pursuit of Wealth With Commentary by David Clarkhis

Charlie Munger’s best quotes on investing, life and everything in between | CNN Business (2024)

FAQs

What was Charlie Munger's famous quote? ›

"A great business at a fair price is superior to a fair business at a great price." "Avoid working directly under somebody you don't admire and don't want to be like." "Mimicking the herd invites regression to the mean." "All I want to know is where I'm going to die, so I'll never go there."

What was Charlie Munger's life advice? ›

He observed, “Patience is a virtue, but you will never ever get anywhere if you don't do something.” Munger believed you must work hard to sift the world for a mispriced asset while being mindful that you will only seldom find one: “The wise ones bet heavily when the world offers them that opportunity.

What is Warren Buffett's most famous quote? ›

Price is what you pay, value is what you get.” This famous Buffett quote strikes at the heart of the “value investor” approach and reveals the secret of how Buffett made his fortune. After Buffett was rejected by Harvard, he enrolled in an undergraduate degree at Columbia Business School.

What are the words of wisdom by Charlie Munger? ›

Charlie Munger Quotes

Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. Discharge your duties faithfully and well. Systematically you get ahead, but not necessarily in fast spurts. Nevertheless, you build discipline by preparing for fast spurts.

What does Charlie Munger invest in? ›

What was Charlie Munger invested in? At the time of his death, Charlie Munger personally owned shares of Berkshire Hathaway, Costco, and the Daily Journal Corporation.

What was Charlie Munger's philosophy? ›

Charlie Munger's investing principles are employed and practiced by investors looking to gain from the market. The concept involves a gradual and steady approach to investing in alignment with market trends, all while mitigating psychological biases that can lead to investment errors.

What did Charlie Munger teach me about life, love, and money? ›

“People are trying to be smart – all I am trying to do is not to be idiotic, but it's harder than most people think,” Munger said. Munger was also adamant that investing, and life, were not about being better than others or getting richer than others, but seeking contentment.

What is Charlie Munger's career advice? ›

Three rules for a career: 1) Don't sell anything you wouldn't buy yourself. 2) Don't work for anyone you don't respect and admire. 3) Work only with people you enjoy.

What is the best investment quote? ›

Invest for the long haul. Don't get too greedy and don't get too scared.” “Waiting helps you as an investor and a lot of people just can't stand to wait.

What is the most important quote of all time? ›

Best Quotes of All Time
  • 1. “ To be, or not to be, that is the question.” – William Shakespeare.
  • 2. “ I think, therefore I am.” – René Descartes.
  • 3. “ The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” – Franklin D. ...
  • 4. “ That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” – Friedrich Nietzsche.
  • 5. “ ...
  • 6. “ ...
  • 7. “ ...
  • 8. “

What is a famous quote about wealth? ›

Not he who has much is rich, but he who gives much. We are rich only through what we give, and poor only through what we refuse. Wealth belongs to the person who enjoys it and not to the one who keeps it. It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.

What was Charlie Munger's best advice? ›

“Knowing what you don't know is more useful than being brilliant.” “Acknowledging what you don't know is the dawning of wisdom.” Identify your circle of competence and use your knowledge, when possible, to stay away from things you don't understand. There are no points for difficulty at work or in life.

What was Charlie Munger's quotes? ›

Inspirational and Motivational Quotes by 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. ...
  • “Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. ...
  • “To get what you want, you have to deserve what you want.
Nov 29, 2023

What is Charlie Munger famous for? ›

Charlie Munger is famous for being Warren Buffett's long-time business partner and the vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. He is known for his value investing approach, his focus on qualitative factors in investment decisions, and his witty and insightful quotes.

What is the important quote from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? ›

You should never, never doubt something that no one is sure of. The idiotic thing at all. In almost every house we've been, We've watched them gaping at the screen.

What is a famous Charlie Mackesy quote? ›

One of our greatest freedoms is how we react to things. The greatest illusion," said the mole, "is that life should be perfect. Always remember you matter, you're important and you are loved, and you bring to this world things no one else can.

What does invert always invert mean? ›

“Invert, always invert: Turn a situation or problem upside down. Look at it backward.

What is Charlie Chaplin's most famous quote? ›

A day without laughter is a day wasted.

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