Book Review, Summary, Highlights, and Quotes from The Tao Of Charlie Munger With Commentary by David Clark
The Tao of Charlie Munger is largely a book of curated quotes from Charlie Munger compiled by David Clark.
After each quote, David offers commentary, insights, and context to each quote.
Sometimes David’s additions are a short paragraph, and other times it can end up being a few pages depending on the context.
To give an example, quote #25 is
“It’s waiting that helps you as an investor, and a lot of people just can’t stand to wait.”
— Charlie Munger
Obviously, that is a pretty clear quote, but then David went on to give background information about how much time Charlie really means, saying that “When Charlie says wait, he means wait as long as it takes, which can mean years.”
Then he goes on to describe a situation in the 1960s in which Charlie waited five years before he found anything interesting to buy, and then another example during the Dot Com bubble, where Charlie and Warren waited until 2003 before they started finding investments attractive again.
I mostly enjoyed the additional commentary that made this much more than a standard quote book. However, that said, given its format and structure being rather short, it’s an OK read, but nothing to go out of your way to purchase.
AR Score: 6/10
Best Quotes from The Tao Of Charlie Munger
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.
— Charlie Munger
I think that, every time you see the word EBITDA, you should substitute the word ‘bullshit earnings’.
— Charlie Munger
An isolated example that’s very rare is much easier to endure than a perfect sea of misery that never ceases.
— Charlie Munger
I remember the $0.05 hamburger and a $0.40-per-hour minimum wage, so I’ve seen a tremendous amount of inflation in my lifetime. Did it ruin the investment climate? I think not.
— Charlie Munger
The difference between a good business and a bad business is that good businesses throw up one easy decision after another. The bad businesses throw up painful decisions time after time.
— Charlie Munger
Three rules for a career: (1) Don’t sell anything you wouldn’t buy yourself; (2) Don’t work for anyone you don’t respect and admire; and (3) Work only with people you enjoy.
— Charlie Munger
What’s wrong with someone getting a little richer than you? It’s crazy to worry about this.
— Charlie Munger
I like people admitting they were compete stupid horses’ asses. I know I’ll perform better if I rub my nose in my mistakes. This is a wonderful trick to learn.
— Charlie Munger
I have never succeeded very much in anything in which I was not very interested. If you can’t somehow find yourself very interested in something, I don’t think you’ll succeed very much, even if you’re fairly smart.
— Charlie Munger
It has been my experience in life, if you just keep thinking and reading, you don’t have to work.
— Charlie Munger
I think people who multitask pay a huge price.
— Charlie Munger
More from David Clark
- Additional Books on Munger and Buffett: @Amazon