Munger: USC Commencement Speech (2007)
Charlie Munger · 2007 · 440 words
USC Law Commencement — Charlie Munger, May 13, 2007
Acquire wisdom; it's a moral duty. Wisdom acquisition is a moral duty. It's not just something you do to advance in life. As a corollary to that proposition, which is very important: it means that you are hooked for lifetime learning. And without lifetime learning, you people are not going to do very well. You are not going to get very far in life based on what you already know.
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.
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. At the end of the day — if you live long enough — most people get what they deserve.
Inversion. Invert, always invert: turn a situation or problem upside down. Look at it backwards. What happens if all our plans go wrong? Where don't we want to go, and how do you get there? Instead of looking for success, make a list of how to fail instead — through sloth, envy, resentment, self-pity, entitlement, all the mental habits of self-defeat. Avoid these qualities and you will succeed. Tell me where I'm going to die, that is, so I don't go there.
Read. I don't think you can get to be a really good investor over a broad range without doing a massive amount of reading. I don't think any one book will do it for you.
The world is full of foolish gambling, and they're going to do worse than the people who keep their head down and grind away. Be careful with what models you accept; the IQ of a group is the IQ of its dumbest member divided by the number of members.
Avoid extreme ideological commitment. The mind of man at its best is like a parachute — it works best when it's open.
Avoid Crazy Causes. Don't deal with people of questionable character. The temptation to associate with high-flyers because of the velocity of their advance turns out to be a mistake when their methods catch up to them.
The acquisition of wisdom is a moral duty. — Charlie Munger
Acquire wisdom; it's a moral duty. Wisdom acquisition is a moral duty. It's not just something you do to advance in life. As a corollary to that proposition, which is very important: it means that you are hooked for lifetime learning. And without lifetime learning, you people are not going to do very well. You are not going to get very far in life based on what you already know.
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.
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. At the end of the day — if you live long enough — most people get what they deserve.
Inversion. Invert, always invert: turn a situation or problem upside down. Look at it backwards. What happens if all our plans go wrong? Where don't we want to go, and how do you get there? Instead of looking for success, make a list of how to fail instead — through sloth, envy, resentment, self-pity, entitlement, all the mental habits of self-defeat. Avoid these qualities and you will succeed. Tell me where I'm going to die, that is, so I don't go there.
Read. I don't think you can get to be a really good investor over a broad range without doing a massive amount of reading. I don't think any one book will do it for you.
The world is full of foolish gambling, and they're going to do worse than the people who keep their head down and grind away. Be careful with what models you accept; the IQ of a group is the IQ of its dumbest member divided by the number of members.
Avoid extreme ideological commitment. The mind of man at its best is like a parachute — it works best when it's open.
Avoid Crazy Causes. Don't deal with people of questionable character. The temptation to associate with high-flyers because of the velocity of their advance turns out to be a mistake when their methods catch up to them.
The acquisition of wisdom is a moral duty. — Charlie Munger