Charlie Munger, Master Learner

On Tuesday, Charlie Munger passed away, 34 days before his 100th birthday.

He was one of the most successful investors of the 20th and 21st centuries.

He was also very wise and a master learner (like his partner Warren Buffett).

Here are some gems from Charlie Munger on learning:

💎 “Acknowledging what you don't know is the dawning of wisdom.”

💎 “The game of life is the game of everlasting learning. At least it is if you want to win.”

💎 “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 they were when they got up.”

💎 “The models have to come from multiple disciplines—because all the wisdom of the world is not to be found in one little academic department.”

💎 “You can't really know anything if you just remember isolated facts and try and bang 'em back. If the facts don't hang together on a latticework of theory, you don't have them in a usable form.”

💎 “I am not entitled to have an opinion unless I can state the arguments against my position better than the people who are in opposition. I think that I am qualified to speak only when I’ve reached that state.”

💎 “I am a biography nut myself. And I think when you're trying to teach the great concepts that work, it helps to tie them to the lives and personalities of the people who developed them.”

💎 “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.”

💎 “I try to get rid of people who always confidently answer questions about which they don’t have any real knowledge.”

💎 “Warren Buffett has become a lot better as an investor since the day I met him, and so have I. If we had been frozen at any given stage, with the knowledge we had, the record would have been much worse than it is. So the game is to keep learning.”

💎 “Those who keep learning, will keep rising in life.”

💎 “The best thing a human being can do is to help another human being know more.”

Charlie Munger's wisdom, beliefs, and mastery of learning were pivotal to his remarkable financial returns and to a life well-lived.

Preview