Category: 3 – SHELF it (All Categories are 1 – Read ASAP!, 2 – BUY it!, 3 – SHELF it, 4 – SOMEDAY it)
Comments: I read this book over a period of nearly ten years picking it up and putting it down periodically. It had a lot of nuggets of wisdom from someone who was as wise as he was wealthy.
Insights that resonated:
(1) When Warren Buffett lectures at business schools, he says, “I could improve your ultimate financial welfare by giving you a ticket with only twenty slots in it so that you had twenty punches – representing all the investments that you get to make in a lifetime. And once you’d punched through the card, you couldn’t make any more investments at all. Under those rules, you’d really think carefully about what you did, and you’d be forced to load up on what you’d really thought about. So you’d do much better.”
(2) I thought this Q&A was a beautiful illustration of Charlie Munger’s approach to life.
“What should a young person look for in a career?”
“I have three basic rules. Meeting all three is nearly impossible, but you should try anyway:
- Don’t sell anything you wouldn’t buy yourself
- Don’t work for anyone you don’t respect and admire.
- Work only with people you enjoy.”
“What overall life advice do you have for young people?”
“Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. Discharge your duties faithfully and well. Step-by-step you get ahead, but not necessarily in fast spurts. But you build discipline by preparing for fast spurts. Slug it out one inch at a time, day-by-day, and at the end of the day – if you live long enough – like most people, you will get out of life what you deserve.
Life and its various passages can be hard, brutally hard. The three things I have found helpful in coping with its challenges are:
- Have low expectations.
- Have a sense of humor.
- Surround yourself with the love of friend and family.
