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# Lessons from Charlie Munger
- URL: https://www.antoinebuteau.com/lessons-from-charlie-munger/
- Published: 2026-03-29T19:23:53.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-18T22:05:16.000Z
- Description: Charlie Munger was Berkshire Hathaway’s vice-chairman and an investor-philosopher of rationality who built a latticework of mental models for worldly wisdom, treating objective truth and the systematic avoidance of human folly as lifelong disciplines for clear judgment.
- Author: Antoine Buteau
- Tags: Profile, Investing, Hedge Funds & Investing Profiles

Charlie Munger was the legendary vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and the primary architect of the "latticework of mental models" approach to worldly wisdom. Beyond his success as an investor, he was a philosopher of rationality who dedicated his life to the pursuit of objective truth and the avoidance of standard human stupidity.

![Infographic for "Lessons from Charlie Munger".](https://www.antoinebuteau.com/content/images/2026/07/f24cad4f-2a8d-4da6-bf33-68f16bd2a6f4-a6606e37-4f74-412f-a392-2161b3480035-optimized.webp)

### Part 1: The Latticework of Mental Models

1. **On Multidisciplinary Thinking:** "You must know the big ideas in the big disciplines and use them routinely—all of them, not just a few. Most people are trained in one model and try to solve all problems with it." — [*Source: Poor Charlie's Almanack*](https://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. **On Organizing Facts:** "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." — [*Source: USC Marshall School of Business*](https://fs.blog/charlie-munger-usc-commencement-speech/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. **On Physics Envy:** "The drive to want to have a formula that will solve everything is a mistake. In the world of human affairs, things are much more complex than in physics." — [*Source: Wesco Financial Annual Meeting 2001*](https://kingswell.io/p/charlie-mungers-wesco-transcripts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
4. **On Synthesis of Ideas:** "The models have to come from multiple disciplines because all the wisdom of the world isn't to be found in one little academic department." — [*Source: Stanford Law School Speech 1996*](https://fs.blog/2012/03/a-lesson-on-worldly-wisdom-charlie-munger/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
5. **On The 80/20 Rule of Knowledge:** "You don't need to know everything. You just need to know the big ideas that carry about 95% of the weight in each discipline." — [*Source: Harvard University Speech 1995*](https://fs.blog/the-psychology-of-human-misjudgment/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
6. **On Psychology as a Foundation:** "If you don't have the psychological models down, you're like a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest." — [*Source: Poor Charlie's Almanack*](https://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
7. **On Hard Sciences:** "You have to realize that the hard sciences like physics and chemistry are the foundation. You must respect the hierarchy of the disciplines." — [*Source: Caltech Distinguished Alumni Award Speech*](https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/charlie-munger-on-worldly-wisdom?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
8. **On Checklist Routines:** "You need a checklist of the big ideas so you don't miss the obvious. Pilots use them, and investors should too." — [*Source: Wesco Financial Annual Meeting 2007*](https://kingswell.io/p/charlie-mungers-wesco-transcripts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
9. **On Math and Probability:** "If you don't have elementary probability into your repertoire, you go through a long life like a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest." — [*Source: USC Commencement Speech 2007*](https://fs.blog/charlie-munger-usc-commencement-speech/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
10. **On Building a Toolkit:** "You must have a toolkit of mental models so that when a problem arises, you have the right tool for the job rather than trying to use a hammer for everything." — [*Source: Seeking Wisdom by Peter Bevelin*](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1041187.Seeking%5FWisdom?ref=antoinebuteau.com)

### Part 2: The Psychology of Human Misjudgment

1. **On Incentive-Superresponse:** "I think I've been in the top 5% of my age cohort all my life in understanding the power of incentives, and all my life I've underestimated it." — [*Source: Harvard University Speech 1995*](https://fs.blog/the-psychology-of-human-misjudgment/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. **On Social Proof:** "The tendency to do what others are doing is very powerful, and it leads to massive bubbles and crashes." — [*Source: Poor Charlie's Almanack*](https://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. **On Lollapalooza Effects:** "When three or four psychological tendencies act in the same direction, you get extreme results that can't be explained by any one factor alone." — [*Source: Wesco Financial Annual Meeting 1996*](https://kingswell.io/p/charlie-mungers-wesco-transcripts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
4. **On Denial:** "If the truth is unpleasant enough, people's minds play tricks on them and they think it isn't really happening. This is simple, pain-avoiding psychological denial." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2023*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2023-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
5. **On Inconsistency-Avoidance:** "The human mind is a lot like the human egg, and the human egg has a shut-off device. When one sperm gets in, it shuts down so the next one can’t get in." — [*Source: Harvard University Speech 1995*](https://fs.blog/the-psychology-of-human-misjudgment/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
6. **On Doubt-Avoidance:** "The brain is programmed to remove doubt by making some decision, any decision. In a stressful environment, this lead to massive errors." — [*Source: Poor Charlie's Almanack*](https://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
7. **On Excessive Self-Regard:** "Most people overestimate their own abilities and the quality of their own decisions. This 'Lake Wobegon' effect is pervasive." — [*Source: Wesco Financial Annual Meeting 2005*](https://kingswell.io/p/charlie-mungers-wesco-transcripts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
8. **On Liking/Loving Tendency:** "We tend to ignore the faults of people we love and the virtues of people we hate, which clouds our judgment of reality." — [*Source: Harvard University Speech 1995*](https://fs.blog/the-psychology-of-human-misjudgment/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
9. **On Authority Bias:** "The human mind is inclined to follow leaders even when they are leading them off a cliff." — [*Source: Poor Charlie's Almanack*](https://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
10. **On Availability Bias:** "An idea or a fact is not worth more merely because it is easily available to your mind." — [*Source: Wesco Financial Annual Meeting 1998*](https://kingswell.io/p/charlie-mungers-wesco-transcripts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)

### Part 3: The Art of "Sit-On-Your-Ass" Investing

1. **On Waiting:** "The big money is not in the buying and the selling, but in the waiting." — [*Source: Poor Charlie's Almanack*](https://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. **On Patience:** "It takes character to sit with all that cash and to do nothing. I didn't get to where I am by going after mediocre opportunities." — [*Source: Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting 2003*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/berkshire-hathaway-annual-meeting-archive/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. **On Opportunity Cost:** "Life is a series of opportunity costs. You should compare every investment to the best one you already have." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2017*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2017-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
4. **On Compound Interest:** "The first rule of compounding is to never interrupt it unnecessarily." — [*Source: Poor Charlie's Almanack*](https://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
5. **On Active Trading:** "If you look at the modern world where someone is trying to teach you to actively trade... I see that as the equivalent of inducing young people to start off on heroin." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2019*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2019-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
6. **On Shorting:** "Shorting is the hardest way to make a little money. It is very dangerous and I generally avoid it." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2023*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2023-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
7. **On Leverage:** "There are three ways for a smart person to go broke: liquor, ladies, and leverage." — [*Source: Damn Right! by Janet Lowe*](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1041188.Damn%5FRight%5F?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
8. **On Circle of Competence:** "You have to figure out what your own aptitudes are. If you play games where other people have the aptitudes and you don't, you're going to lose." — [*Source: Wesco Financial Annual Meeting 1994*](https://kingswell.io/p/charlie-mungers-wesco-transcripts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
9. **On Concentration:** "The wise ones bet heavily when the world offers them that opportunity. They bet big when they have the odds." — [*Source: Poor Charlie's Almanack*](https://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
10. **On Selling:** "If you've bought a great business and it's compounding beautifully, why would you ever want to sell it just to pay taxes and look for something else?" — [*Source: Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting 2015*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/berkshire-hathaway-annual-meeting-archive/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)

### Part 4: Economic Moats and Business Quality

1. **On High-Tolerance Businesses:** "Invest in a business any fool can run, because someday a fool will. If it can't survive a little mismanagement, it's not a great business." — [*Source: Wesco Financial Annual Meeting 2009*](https://kingswell.io/p/charlie-mungers-wesco-transcripts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. **On Old Moats:** "The old classical moats are disappearing rapidly. It's probably a natural part of the modern economic system that the old moats stop working." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2020*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2020-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. **On Pricing Power:** "The single most important decision in evaluating a business is pricing power. If you’ve got the power to raise prices without losing business to a competitor, you’ve got a very good business." — [*Source: Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting 2011*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/berkshire-hathaway-annual-meeting-archive/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
4. **On Free Cash Flow:** "The best business is one that consistently generates more disposable cash than net profit annually." — [*Source: Wesco Financial Annual Meeting 2003*](https://kingswell.io/p/charlie-mungers-wesco-transcripts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
5. **On Monopoly Effects:** "Monopoly and bureaucracy have pernicious effects everywhere, and higher education isn't exempt from it." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2016*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2016-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
6. **On Business Ethics:** "A business that makes money by selling people things that are bad for them is a business that I don't want to own." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2021*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2021-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
7. **On Brand Value:** "A great brand is like a moat that keeps competitors at bay by creating a psychological preference in the consumer's mind." — [*Source: Poor Charlie's Almanack*](https://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
8. **On Retail Realities:** "Retail is a very tough business because you are constantly under fire from competitors who are willing to cut their own throats to take your customers." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2023*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2023-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
9. **On Economic Destruction:** "All businesses get worse and fail eventually, even the best ones. It is the nature of capitalism." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2023*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2023-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
10. **On Bureaucracy:** "As a company grows, it tends to develop a bureaucracy that is more interested in its own survival than in the success of the business." — [*Source: Wesco Financial Annual Meeting 2004*](https://kingswell.io/p/charlie-mungers-wesco-transcripts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)

### Part 5: Rationality, Inversion, and Avoiding Stupidity

1. **On Inversion:** "Invert, always invert. Turn a situation or problem upside down. Look at it backward." — [*Source: Poor Charlie's Almanack*](https://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. **On Being "Not Stupid":** "It is remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent." — [*Source: Wesco Financial Annual Meeting 1989*](https://kingswell.io/p/charlie-mungers-wesco-transcripts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. **On Discarding Beliefs:** "Being able to recognize when you are wrong is a godsend. I actually work at trying to discard beliefs." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2020*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2020-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
4. **On Objectivity:** "You must force yourself to consider the opposite argument. If you can't state the other person's argument better than they can, you don't have the right to an opinion." — [*Source: Poor Charlie's Almanack*](https://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
5. **On High IQ Stupidity:** "The one thing that has surprised me all my life is how many people with high IQs do massively stupid things." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2015*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2015-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
6. **On Self-Correction:** "Any year that you don’t destroy at least one of your most loved ideas is probably a wasted year." — [*Source: Poor Charlie's Almanack*](https://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
7. **On Simple Solutions:** "If something is too hard, we move on to something else. What could be simpler than that?" — [*Source: Wesco Financial Annual Meeting 2002*](https://kingswell.io/p/charlie-mungers-wesco-transcripts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
8. **On Avoiding Pain:** "Try to avoid pain, and when you can't, learn how to deal with it. This is wisdom." — [*Source: Wesco Financial Annual Meeting 2011*](https://kingswell.io/p/charlie-mungers-wesco-transcripts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
9. **On Clear Thinking:** "People calculate too much and think too little. They want a number to tell them what to do." — [*Source: Poor Charlie's Almanack*](https://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
10. **On Fatal Flaws:** "I want to know where I’m going to die so I’ll never go there." — [*Source: Wesco Financial Annual Meeting 2006*](https://kingswell.io/p/charlie-mungers-wesco-transcripts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)

### Part 6: The Moral Duty of Continuous Learning

1. **On Being a Learning Machine:** "I constantly see people rise in life who are not the smartest... but they are learning machines. They go to bed every night a little wiser than when they got up." — [*Source: USC Commencement Speech 2007*](https://fs.blog/charlie-munger-usc-commencement-speech/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. **On Reading:** "In my whole life, I have known no wise people who didn't read all the time — none, zero." — [*Source: Poor Charlie's Almanack*](https://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. **On Wisdom Acquisition:** "The acquisition of wisdom is a moral duty. It's not something you do just to advance in life." — [*Source: USC Commencement Speech 2007*](https://fs.blog/charlie-munger-usc-commencement-speech/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
4. **On Mastering Others' Ideas:** "I believe in the discipline of mastering the best that other people have ever figured out. I don't believe in just sitting down and trying to dream it all up yourself." — [*Source: Wesco Financial Annual Meeting 1998*](https://kingswell.io/p/charlie-mungers-wesco-transcripts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
5. **On Lifelong Education:** "You are not going to get very far in life based on what you already know. You're going to advance in life by what you learn after you leave school." — [*Source: USC Commencement Speech 2007*](https://fs.blog/charlie-munger-usc-commencement-speech/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
6. **On Intense Interest:** "You have to find something you're interested in because it's just too much to expect of human nature that you'll be good at something you dislike doing." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2017*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2017-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
7. **On Curiosity:** "You must be curious. If you're not curious, you're not going to learn anything." — [*Source: Wesco Financial Annual Meeting 1999*](https://kingswell.io/p/charlie-mungers-wesco-transcripts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
8. **On Intellectual Honesty:** "Recognizing what you don't know is the beginning of wisdom. You must be honest with yourself about your own ignorance." — [*Source: Poor Charlie's Almanack*](https://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
9. **On Attention Span:** "I did not succeed in life by intelligence. I succeeded because I have a long attention span." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2015*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2015-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
10. **On Broad Subject Matter:** "You should learn enough about everything so that you are not at the mercy of the experts." — [*Source: Wesco Financial Annual Meeting 2000*](https://kingswell.io/p/charlie-mungers-wesco-transcripts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)

### Part 7: Personal Character and the Value of Integrity

1. **On Reputation:** "Remember that reputation and integrity are your most valuable assets—and can be lost in a heartbeat." — [*Source: Poor Charlie's Almanack*](https://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. **On Deserving What You Want:** "To get what you want, you have to deserve what you want. The world is not yet a crazy enough place to reward a whole bunch of undeserving people." — [*Source: USC Commencement Speech 2007*](https://fs.blog/charlie-munger-usc-commencement-speech/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. **On Reliability:** "If you are unreliable, it doesn't matter what your other virtues are. You're going to fail." — [*Source: USC Commencement Speech 2007*](https://fs.blog/charlie-munger-usc-commencement-speech/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
4. **On Working for Admired People:** "Avoid working under people who you don't admire or want to be like." — [*Source: USC Commencement Speech 2007*](https://fs.blog/charlie-munger-usc-commencement-speech/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
5. **On Moral Duty:** "I think that you should make money by selling people things that are good for them." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2021*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2021-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
6. **On Influence:** "You eventually become what you pretend to be. If you act with integrity, eventually it becomes part of your nature." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2020*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2020-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
7. **On Responsibility:** "Take on greater responsibilities and perfect your work. That is how you succeed." — [*Source: Wesco Financial Annual Meeting 2011*](https://kingswell.io/p/charlie-mungers-wesco-transcripts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
8. **On Humility:** "I look for a place where I'm wise and they're stupid. That requires knowing exactly where your wisdom ends." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2020*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2020-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
9. **On Self-Serving Bias:** "The self-serving bias is something you want to get out of yourself. It leads to terrible decisions and ruined relationships." — [*Source: USC Commencement Speech 2007*](https://fs.blog/charlie-munger-usc-commencement-speech/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
10. **On Reliability as a Virtue:** "Being reliable is the most important trait in a partner. It’s better to have a partner who is slightly less smart but 100% reliable." — [*Source: Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting 2018*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/berkshire-hathaway-annual-meeting-archive/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)

### Part 8: Economics, Incentives, and Corporate Governance

1. **On Show Me the Incentive:** "Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome." — [*Source: Poor Charlie's Almanack*](https://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. **On EBITDA:** "I think that, every time you see the word EBITDA, you should substitute the words 'bullshit earnings.'" — [*Source: Wesco Financial Annual Meeting 2003*](https://kingswell.io/p/charlie-mungers-wesco-transcripts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. **On Derivatives:** "I don't like derivatives. They are like some venereal disease... I just regard them as beneath contempt." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2014*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2014-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
4. **On Executive Compensation:** "The way executive compensation is handled in America is a national disgrace. It is often a system of legalized bribery." — [*Source: Wesco Financial Annual Meeting 2004*](https://kingswell.io/p/charlie-mungers-wesco-transcripts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
5. **On Corporate Culture:** "If they made me CEO of a company with a million employees and said 'change the culture Charlie' I would regard that as a sentence to hell." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2018*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2018-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
6. **On Accounting Fraud:** "Accounting is the language of business, but when people start using it to deceive rather than inform, the whole system breaks down." — [*Source: Wesco Financial Annual Meeting 2002*](https://kingswell.io/p/charlie-mungers-wesco-transcripts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
7. **On Financial Innovation:** "We don't need these kinds of innovation in finance. It's OK to be boring in finance. What we want is innovation in widgets." — [*Source: Wesco Financial Annual Meeting 2009*](https://kingswell.io/p/charlie-mungers-wesco-transcripts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
8. **On The Finance Industry:** "The finance industry is 5% rational people and 95% shamans and faith healers." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2015*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2015-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
9. **On Corporate Governance:** "Board members are often like a bunch of decorative objects on a shelf. They don't do anything to stop the CEO from making terrible mistakes." — [*Source: Wesco Financial Annual Meeting 2001*](https://kingswell.io/p/charlie-mungers-wesco-transcripts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
10. **On Rational Economics:** "The standard economics taught in universities is often flawed because it ignores the psychology of human behavior." — [*Source: Poor Charlie's Almanack*](https://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)

### Part 9: The Pursuit of Happiness and a Well-Spent Life

1. **On Low Expectations:** "The first rule of a happy life is low expectations. If you have expectations that are too high you will have a miserable life." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2021*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2021-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. **On Envy:** "Envy is a really stupid sin because it's the only one you could never possibly have any fun at. Why would you want to get on that trolley?" — [*Source: Poor Charlie's Almanack*](https://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. **On Resentment:** "Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for your enemies to die. It is a total waste of time." — [*Source: Wesco Financial Annual Meeting 2010*](https://kingswell.io/p/charlie-mungers-wesco-transcripts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
4. **On Marriage:** "The best single way to find a good spouse is to deserve a good spouse." — [*Source: USC Commencement Speech 2007*](https://fs.blog/charlie-munger-usc-commencement-speech/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
5. **On Dealing with Pain:** "View every mischance as an opportunity to behave well and learn something." — [*Source: USC Commencement Speech 2007*](https://fs.blog/charlie-munger-usc-commencement-speech/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
6. **On Gratitude:** "I have conquered envy in my own life. I don't envy anybody. I don't give a damn what somebody else has." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2022*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2022-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
7. **On Old Age:** "The best armour of old age is a well spent life perfecting it." — [*Source: Poor Charlie's Almanack*](https://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
8. **On Deferred Gratification:** "If you are willing to go in for a lot of deferred gratification all your life, you're going to succeed." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2017*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2017-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
9. **On Engagement in Life:** "My hero is Maimonides... He believed in the engaged life. I recommend that you engage life." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2017*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2017-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
10. **On Personal Habits:** "Mozart had a lousy unhappy life because he overspent his income and was full of resentment. Learn from Mozart." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2019*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2019-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)

### Part 10: Worldly Wisdom on Contemporary Challenges

1. **On Cryptocurrency:** "I think it's crypto crappo... it's like some venereal disease. I just regard it as beneath contempt." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2022*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2022-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. **On Robinhood:** "New brokers are luring the gamblers in and it's a dirty way to make money. Nobody should believe that Robinhood's trades are free." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2021*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2021-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. **On Elon Musk:** "Elon Musk is a genius, but a man with a reputation for genius who takes on a business with tough operating conditions will likely see the business's reputation prevail." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2015*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2015-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
4. **On Venture Capital Excess:** "I would argue venture capital is throwing too much money too fast, and there's a considerable wretched excess in it." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2022*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2022-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
5. **On Alibaba Mistakes:** "I regard Alibaba as one of the worst mistakes I ever made. I got charmed with their position and didn't realize they're still a retailer." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2023*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2023-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
6. **On Modern Markets:** "We have a stock market which some people use like a gambling parlor. It is not good for the country." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2022*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2022-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
7. **On Technological Change:** "The internet is like past technological advancements—great for mankind but not always great investments, as people tend to overdo them." — [*Source: Wesco Financial Annual Meeting 2000*](https://kingswell.io/p/charlie-mungers-wesco-transcripts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
8. **On China:** "The Chinese internet companies are stronger than our own in many ways, but the political risks are significant." — [*Source: Daily Journal Annual Meeting 2023*](https://buffett.cnbc.com/2023-daily-journal-annual-meeting/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
9. **On Assiduity:** "I like the word assiduity because it means: sit down on your ass until you do it." — [*Source: USC Commencement Speech 2007*](https://fs.blog/charlie-munger-usc-commencement-speech/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
10. **On Legacy:** "My sword I leave to him who can wear it. I want to leave behind a record of rational behavior." — [*Source: USC Commencement Speech 2007*](https://fs.blog/charlie-munger-usc-commencement-speech/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)