81 Best Charlie Munger Quotes on Life (INVESTING)

In the world of investing and corporate leadership, few figures command as much respect or admiration as Charlie Munger. Known for his role as Warren Buffett’s right-hand man at Berkshire Hathaway and his razor-sharp wit, Munger is a titan whose wisdom is highly sought after in the universe of finance.

These quotes aren’t just financial advice; they are life lessons from a man who has consistently demonstrated the value of clear thinking and ethical integrity. They offer insights into decision-making, the importance of lifelong learning, and the principles that underpin Munger’s investment philosophy.

Whether you’re a novice investor, a seasoned market player, or simply someone intrigued by the world of finance, these quotes will stimulate your thinking, deepen your understanding, and inspire you to strive for excellence.

16 of the Best Charlie Munger Quotes on Life & Success

“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. My children laugh at me. They think I’m a book with a couple of legs sticking out.”
Charlie Munger

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.

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

Always take the high road, it’s far less crowded.

Take a simple idea and take it seriously.

Like Warren, I had a considerable passion to get rich, not because I wanted Ferraris – I wanted independence. I desperately wanted it. — Like **Warren**, I had a considerable passion to get rich, not because I wanted Ferraris – I wanted independence. I desperately wanted it.

“Not everybody can learn everything. No matter how hard you try, there is always some guy or girl who achieves more. My attitude is, so what? Does any of us need to be at the very top of the whole world? It’s ridiculous.”
Charlie Munger

The big money is not in the buying and the selling, but in the waiting. — The big **money** is not in the buying and the selling, but in the **waiting**.

A great business at a fair price is superior to a fair business at a great price.

You don’t have to be brilliant, only a little bit wiser than the other guys, on average, for a long time.

People calculate too much and think too little.

You don't have to have the kind of ability that quantum mechanics requires. You just have to know a few simple things and really know them. — You don’t have to have the kind of ability that quantum mechanics requires. You just have to know a few simple things and really know them.

“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, and boy, does that help, particularly when you have a long run ahead of you.”
Charlie Munger

Those who keep learning, will keep rising in life. — Those who keep **learning**, will keep rising in life.

Acknowledging what you don’t know is the dawning of wisdom. — Acknowledging what you don’t know is the dawning of **wisdom**.

Assume life will be really tough, and then ask if you can handle it. If the answer is yes, you’ve won.

37 Famous Charlie Munger Quotes to Inspire Successful Living & Investing

“Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. 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.”
Charlie Munger

It takes the character to sit with all that cash and to do nothing. I didn’t get to where I am by going after mediocre opportunities.

It’s not supposed to be easy. Anyone who finds it easy is stupid.

Everywhere there is a large commission, there is a high probability of a rip-off.

We recognized early on that very smart people do very dumb things, and we wanted to know why and who, so that we could avoid them.

You need patience, discipline, and an agility to take losses and adversity without going crazy. — You need **patience**, discipline, and an agility to take losses and adversity without going crazy.

“You don’t have a lot of envy, you don’t have a lot of resentment, you don’t overspend your income, you stay cheerful in spite of your troubles, you deal with reliable people and you do what you’re supposed to do. All these simple rules work so well to make your life better.”
Charlie Munger

Don't drift into self-pity because it doesn't solve any problems. Generally speaking, envy, resentment, revenge and self-pity are disastrous modes of thoughts. — Don’t drift into self-pity because it doesn’t solve any problems. Generally speaking, envy, resentment, revenge and self-pity are disastrous modes of thoughts.

There is now more money to be made from law, but less time to enjoy it. — There is now more **money** to be made from law, but less time to enjoy it.

We both (Warren Buffett) insist on a lot of time being available almost every day to just sit and think. That is very uncommon in American business. We read and think. — We both (**Warren Buffett**) insist on a lot of time being available almost every day to just sit and think. That is very uncommon in American business. We read and think.

This habit of committing far more time to learning and thinking than to doing is no accident. — This **habit** of committing far more time to **learning** and thinking than to doing is no accident.

“If you’re going to live a long time, you have to keep learning — what you formerly knew is never enough. So if you don’t learn to constantly revise your earlier conclusions, and get better ones, you are — I always use the same metaphor — you’re like a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest.”
Charlie Munger

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

A majority of life’s errors are caused by forgetting what one is really trying to do.

There is no better teacher than history in determining the future... There are answers worth billions of dollars in 30$ history book. — There is no better teacher than history in determining the **future**… There are answers worth billions of dollars in 30$ history book.

If you keep learning all the time you have a huge advantage. — If you keep **learning** all the time you have a huge advantage.

“I don’t have a single achievement I’m all that proud of. I set out to have more common sense than most, and I’m pleased I did as well as I did. If I had to do it all over again, I think it’d be a lot harder.”
Charlie Munger

Knowing what you don’t know is more useful than being brilliant.

We have a passion for keeping things simple.

We have three baskets for investing: yes, no, and too tough to understand. — We have three baskets for **investing**: yes, no, and too tough to understand.

If something is too hard, we move on to something else. What could be simpler than that?

You must force yourself to consider opposing arguments. Especially when they challenge your best-loved ideas.

Just the discipline of having to put your thoughts in order with somebody else is a very useful thing.

“We all are learning, modifying, or destroying ideas all the time. Rapid destruction of your ideas when the time is right is one of the most valuable qualities you can acquire. You must force yourself to consider arguments on the other side.”
Charlie Munger

There's a tendency to think that our present politicians are much worse than any we had in the past. But we tend to forget how awful our politicians were in the past. — There’s a tendency to think that our present politicians are much worse than any we had in the past. But we tend to forget how awful our politicians were in the past.

There isn’t a single formula. You need to know a lot about business and human nature and the numbers… It is unreasonable to expect that there is a magic system that will do it for you. — There isn’t a single formula. You need to know a lot about business and human **nature** and the numbers… It is unreasonable to expect that there is a magic system that will do it for you.

I paid no attention to the territorial boundaries of academic disciplines and I just grabbed all the big ideas that I could.

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. Nobody’s that smart… — 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. Nobody’s that smart…

Live within your income and save so that you can invest. Learn what you need to learn. — Live within your income and save so that you can **invest**. **Learn** what you need to learn.

If your new behavior gives you a little temporary unpopularity with your peer group, then to hell with them.

“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 – economics, for example – and try to solve all problems in one way. You know the old saying: To the man with a hammer, the world looks like a nail. This is a dumb way of handling problems.”
Charlie Munger

Develop into a lifelong self-learner through voracious reading; cultivate curiosity and strive to become a little wiser every day.

I think that one should recognize reality even when one doesn’t like it; indeed, especially when one doesn’t like it.

No wise pilot, no matter how great his talent and experience, fails to use a checklist. — No wise pilot, no matter how great his **talent** and experience, fails to use a checklist.

Mimicking the herd invites regression to the man.

Most people are too fretful, they worry too much. Success means being very patient, but aggressive when it’s time. — Most people are too fretful, they worry too much. **Success** means being very **patient**, but aggressive when it’s **time**.

You’re looking for a mispriced gamble. That’s what investing is. And you have to know enough to know whether the gamble is mispriced. That’s value investing.

28 Inspirational Charlie Munger Quotes to Motivate and Empower You

“I met the towering intellectuals in books, not in the classroom, which is natural. I can’t remember when I first read Ben Franklin. I had Thomas Jefferson over my bed at seven or eight. My family was into all that stuff, getting ahead through discipline, knowledge, and self-control.”
Charlie Munger

The best armour of old age is a well spent life perfecting it.

Is there such a thing as a cheerful pessimist? That’s what I am.

Envy is a really stupid sin because it’s the only one you could never possibly have any fun at. There’s a lot of pain and no fun. Why would you want to get on that trolley?

Remember that reputation and integrity are your most valuable assets—and can be lost in a heartbeat. — Remember that reputation and integrity are your most valuable **assets**—and can be lost in a heartbeat.

Life, in part, is like a poker game, wherein you have to learn to quit sometimes when holding a much-loved hand — you must learn to handle mistakes and new facts that change the odds. — Life, in part, is like a **poker** game, wherein you have to **learn** to quit sometimes when holding a much-loved hand — you must learn to handle mistakes and new facts that change the odds.

“An idiot can diversify a portfolio, or a computer. But the whole trick of the game is to have a few times when you know something is better than average, and invest only where you have that extra knowledge. If that gets you a few opportunities, that’s enough.”
Charlie Munger

There is no way you can live an adequate life without making many mistakes.

Extreme patience combined with extreme decisiveness. — Extreme **patience** combined with extreme **decisiveness**.

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

The iron rule of nature is: you get what you reward for. If you want ants to come, you put sugar on the floor. — The iron rule of **nature** is: you get what you reward for. If you want ants to come, you put sugar on the floor.

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.

Benjamin Franklin was able to make the contribution he did because he had [financial] freedom. — **Benjamin Franklin** was able to make the contribution he did because he had [financial] **freedom**.

“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.”
Charlie Munger

I would argue that passion is more important than brain power.

The great algorithm to remember in dealing with this tendency is simple: an idea or a fact is not worth more merely because it’s easily available to you.

Our game is to recognize a big idea when it comes along when one doesn’t come along very often. Opportunity comes to the prepared mind.

Do the best you can do. Never tell a lie. If you say you’re going to do it, get it done. Nobody cares about an excuse.

I think that people who are professional traders that go into trading cryptocurrencies, it’s just disgusting. It's like somebody else is trading turds and you decide I can't be left out. — I think that people who are professional traders that go into trading cryptocurrencies, it’s just disgusting. It’s like somebody else is trading turds and you decide I can’t be left out.

“Of course when people talk about common sense, they mean uncommon sense. Every time you hear that someone has common sense, it means that he has uncommon sense, and it’s much harder to have common sense than is generally thought.”
Charlie Munger

When you borrow a man’s car, always return it with a tank of gas.

There’s only one way to the top: hard work. — There’s only one way to the top: **hard work**.

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. — 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.

Being smart and doing something that no one has done before are two different things.

It's amazing how intelligent it is just to spend some time sitting. A lot of people are way too active. — It’s amazing how intelligent it is just to spend some **time** sitting. A lot of people are way too active.

And the great useful model, after compound interest, is the elementary math of permutations and combinations.

To this day, I have never taken a course anywhere, in chemistry, economics, psychology, or business.

“If you took our top fifteen decisions out, we’d have a pretty average record. It wasn’t hyperactivity, but a hell of a lot of patience. You stuck to your principles and when opportunities came along, you pounced on them with vigor.”
Charlie Munger

Charlie Munger Short Biography

Born on 1 January 1924 in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S., Charles Thomas Munger is one of American’s greatest minds in the 20th century.

Best known for being the vice-chairman of the compound interest machine: Berkshire Hathaway, Inc (a conglomerate controlled by Warren Buffett), Charlie Munger is an investor, businessman, and former real estate attorney.

A passionate investor who knocked down obstacles, trials, tragedies, or any known difficulties that come his way with persistence and grit. It shows you how much one can overcome when one truly loves his job.

As one of the key leaders of Berkshire Hathaway, Charlie Munger (and Warren Buffett) has grown the company to over 2,000,000% on its initial value (or 20,000 to 1) through wise investing without dangerous amounts of borrowing.

Charlie Munger is also the Chairman of the Daily Journal Corp and sits on the board of retailer Costco. As of 2020, Munger has a net worth of $1.6 billion. However, it is considered low by many people given his wise decisions and contributions.

Further reading:

Here are the best Charlie Munger quotes so you can be ready for change and be wise to take full responsibility for the results of your business/company.

(MUST READ)

Tao of Charlie Munger: A Compilation of Quotes from Berkshire Hathaway's Vice Chairman on Life, Business, and the Pursuit of Wealth — **Tao of Charlie Munger: A Compilation of Quotes from Berkshire Hathaway’s Vice Chairman on Life, Business, and the Pursuit of Wealth**

Also read:

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