Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger
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- Create Date：2021-05-16 08:53:47
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Charles T. Munger
- ISBN：1578645018
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Summary
EXPANDED THIRD EDITION includes Charlie's 2007 USC Law School Commencement address。 Edited by Peter D。 Kaufman。 Brand New。
Reviews
Louis Beaumont
，
Systemic decision makingInverse systemsRead a lotChecklist decision makingVicarious learningHumans are full of bias， bias awarenessRadical honesty， morality， cooperation is the optimal strategy
Feng Zihan
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对我影响最大的书之一
Stefan Papp
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nothing too insightful
Kaumin
，
Best book in investing psychology
Ooi Yang
，
A must read for those who are interested in achieving better life quality！
John Galipeau
，
Five stars isn't enough。 Charlie Munger may be the smartest and wisest person of the last hundred years。 This tome （it's really a coffee table book） is a tremendous repository of his knowledge， his speeches and writings， and most of all his humor。 I cannot rate his book high enough。 Five stars isn't enough。 Charlie Munger may be the smartest and wisest person of the last hundred years。 This tome （it's really a coffee table book） is a tremendous repository of his knowledge， his speeches and writings， and most of all his humor。 I cannot rate his book high enough。 。。。more
John Doe
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Mental models mentioned in the book are pretty interesting。 And of course human misjudgements part also makes this book immensely valuable。psychology-based tendencies list:One: Reward and Punishment Super Response TendencyTwo: Liking/Loving TendencyThree: Disliking/Hating TendencyFour: Doubt-Avoidance TendencyFive: Inconsistency-Avoidance TendencySix: Curiosity TendencySeven: Kantian Fairness TendencyEight: Envy/Jealousy TendencyNine: Reciprocation TendencyTen: Influence-from-Mere- consequences Mental models mentioned in the book are pretty interesting。 And of course human misjudgements part also makes this book immensely valuable。psychology-based tendencies list:One: Reward and Punishment Super Response TendencyTwo: Liking/Loving TendencyThree: Disliking/Hating TendencyFour: Doubt-Avoidance TendencyFive: Inconsistency-Avoidance TendencySix: Curiosity TendencySeven: Kantian Fairness TendencyEight: Envy/Jealousy TendencyNine: Reciprocation TendencyTen: Influence-from-Mere- consequences from Association Tendency confluences of psychologicalEleven: Simple， Pain-Avoiding Tendencies Acting in Favor of psychological Denial a Particular outcomeTwelve: Excessive Self-Regard TendencyThirteen: Overoptimism TendencyFourteen: Deprival-Super Reaction TendencyFifteen: Social-Proof TendencySixteen: Contrast-Misreaction TendencySeventeen: Stress-Influence TendencyEighteen: Availability-Mis Weighing TendencyNineteen: Use-It-or-Lose-It TendencyTwenty: Drug-Misinfluence TendencyTwenty-One: Senescence-Misinfluence TendencyTwenty-Two: Authority-Misinfluence TendencyTwenty-Three: Twaddle TendencyTwenty-Four: Reason-Respecting TendencyTwenty-Five: Lollapalooza Tendency-The Tendency to Get Extreme 。。。more
Guna
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I loved this book， and more so the man himself！Charlie’s ideas have had quite an impact in structuring the way I understand the world。 Hitherto my acquaintance with the man and his philosophy has been through small videos， interviews and witty comments in the Berkshire Annual meetings。 This book provides the space and time for Munger’s discourse to take shape more eloquently。 The best part is that there is very little of the author talking about his interpretation of Munger - you get it from the I loved this book， and more so the man himself！Charlie’s ideas have had quite an impact in structuring the way I understand the world。 Hitherto my acquaintance with the man and his philosophy has been through small videos， interviews and witty comments in the Berkshire Annual meetings。 This book provides the space and time for Munger’s discourse to take shape more eloquently。 The best part is that there is very little of the author talking about his interpretation of Munger - you get it from the man himself。 I feel that’s the next best thing one could hope for right below Munger penning them on his own， given how profound they are！The most fascinating thing about Munger is how much importance he gives to the role of psychology in life and business decision making。 Munger invites us to be the best imitation of a “rational machine”， while at the same time warning you of ways the mortal human tendencies will drag you away from it。 A fascinating read！ 。。。more
sbans
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"Almanack" is apt。 Munger is the physical manifestation of "common sense" and Midwestern-style morality so his words tend to feel repetitive， especially considering the lectures overlap quite a bit。 Some common sense to carry:- pick your spots （circle of competence）- wait for the right moment and be decisive， go all-in （"if you could only make 20 investments。。。"）- "a great company at a fair price is far superior to a fair company at a great price"- don't be "the man with a hammer" to whom everyt "Almanack" is apt。 Munger is the physical manifestation of "common sense" and Midwestern-style morality so his words tend to feel repetitive， especially considering the lectures overlap quite a bit。 Some common sense to carry:- pick your spots （circle of competence）- wait for the right moment and be decisive， go all-in （"if you could only make 20 investments。。。"）- "a great company at a fair price is far superior to a fair company at a great price"- don't be "the man with a hammer" to whom everything looks like a nail- everything exists within a larger ecosystem; everything is interconnected， and you need to wield multiple mental models in broad fields like history， psychology， physiology， math， engineering， biology， physics， chemistry， statistics， economics， etc。 to reduce the inherent chaos and confusion of a complex investment problem into a clarified set of fundamentals; consider nth-order effects- knowing what to avoid is more important than making great decisions （"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。"）- learn from others' mistakes- mechanism design: incentives are upstream of everything- be viciously self-critical; don't lie to yourself- get it right the first time; value durability， ritual， and tradition- our memories are suspect; prefer checklists （remember the Japanese train conductors who depend on constant hand signals）I read somewhere that Buffett and Munger mostly sit around and read a lot， and only occasionally make trades， and the almanack explains that so much value is lost in the middleman transactions--value compounds but it takes patience （"compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world"）。And "The Psychology of Human Misjudgment" is such a great lecture。 Human misjudgment's been on my mind lately because of QAnon and alt-right pipelines， how malleable our minds are， and Munger's talk on cognitive traps touches on so much of what I've been thinking about。Charlie's Checklists1。 A 2-track analysis: what are the macro= and micro-level economic factors that really given the interests involved， rationally considered？ What are the subconscious influences？2。 Decision-making- risk: measure risk， especially reputational - incorporate an appropriate margin of safety - avoid dealing with people of questionable character - insist upon proper compensation for risk assumed - always beware of inflation and interest rate exposures - avoid big mistakes; shun permanent capital loss- independence: look for disconfirming evidence [a scientist's mindset to disprove] - others' agreements and disagreements don't make you right or wrong; the only thing that matters is the correctness of your analysis and judgment - mimicking the herd invites regression to the mean- preparation: the only way to win long-term is to work， work， work and hope to have a few insights - become a lifelong self-learner - more important than the will to win is the will to prepare [Mamba Mentality] - develop fluency in mental models from the major academic disciplines- intellectual humility: remember that you're the easiest person to fool- analytic rigor: use of the scientific method and effective checklists minimizes errors and omissions - determine value apart from price - it is better to remember the obvious than to grasp the esoteric - consider totality of risk and effect - think forwards and backwards; invert， invert， invert- allocation - good ideas are rare; when the odds are greatly in your favor， bet heavily - don't be sentimental about investments- patience: resist the natural human bias to act - "compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world"; never interrupt it unnecessarily - avoid unnecessary transactional taxes and frictional costs - be alert for the arrival of luck- decisiveness - be fearful when others are greedy， and greedy when others are fearful - opportunity doesn't come often to seize it when it does - opportunity meets the prepared mind; that's the game- change: live with change and accept unremovable complexity - recognize and adapt to the true nature of the world around you; don't expect it to adapt to you - continually challenge and willingly amend your best-loved ideas - recognize reality even （and especially） when you don't like it- focus: keep things simple and remember what you set out to do - remember that reputation and integrity are your most valuable assets， and can be lost in a heartbeat - guard against the effects of hubris and boredom - don't overlook the obvious by drowning in minutiae - be careful to exclude unneeded information or slop; "a small leak can sink a great ship" - face your big troubles; don't sweep them under the rugThe 25 Tendencies of Human Misjudgment1。 Reward and punishment super-response， i。e。 incentives - the power incentives and disincentives have on changing cognition cannot be overstated - appeal to people's interests not their rationality2。 Liking/loving tendency3。 Disliking/hating tendency4。 Doubt/avoidance tendency - if we're unsure about a decision we try to quickly remove any doubt by making an ill-informed， quick decision - institute a "delay before decision" rule5。 Inconsistency-avoidance tendency - we have a reluctance to change; eliminating bad habits is a rare trait - "people tend to accumulate large mental holdings of fixed conclusions and attitudes that are not often re-examined or changed， even though there is plenty of good evidence that they are wrong"; time cements even the weakest of opinions6。 Curiosity tendency - take a curious， lifelong-learning approach to life and it'll be hard to be unhappy or unsuccessful [Alan Watts， Steph Curry， Steve Kerr， Ken Kocienda]7。 Kantian fairness tendency - tolerating a little unfairness should be okay if it means a greater fairness to all8。 Envy/jealousy tendency - "It is not greed that drives the world， but envy" （Buffett）。9。 Reciprocation tendency - the automatic tendency to reciprocate both favors and disfavors - "the standard antidote to one's overactive hostility is to train oneself to defer reaction" - reciprocation is built into us so that it often operates at a subconscious level10。 Influence-from-mere-association tendency 。。。more
Yijia Chen
，
Why are there so many typos in this book？ Is it just my print？
Bhuvanesh Kandasamy
，
The book shows some light into Charlie Munger's mind and wisdom。 He shares his core values and thoughts of leading a better life。 He explains the importance of having a multi-dimensional perspective of disciplines to solve problems in this complex world。 He also explains the importance of becoming a learning machine to become successful in this ever changing world。 His example of solving a Coca-Cola problem will blow your mind。 The psychology of misjustments chapter will give an idea of what he The book shows some light into Charlie Munger's mind and wisdom。 He shares his core values and thoughts of leading a better life。 He explains the importance of having a multi-dimensional perspective of disciplines to solve problems in this complex world。 He also explains the importance of becoming a learning machine to become successful in this ever changing world。 His example of solving a Coca-Cola problem will blow your mind。 The psychology of misjustments chapter will give an idea of what he tries to avoid/takes note in approaching problems。 The book needs to be read more than once to get a complete understanding of his wisdom！ 。。。more
Malik Bedar Bakht
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Life changing book。
B K
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The aspects on mental models， and human psychology were lifechanging。 I Will read again where I have more of an understanding regarding investing， finance and economics。
Nik
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Very good compendium of presentations by this Charles。It gives a very interesting perspective of so many things that are mixed with finances and investments， from psychology， understanding， education and much， much common sense。A bit of a long reading but it is well worth it and ends up being entertaining even though it sometimes uses somewhat elaborate terms。
Chris Loveless
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A real bear of a giant encyclopedia like book。 Book probably weighs 10 pounds。 Book is huge and sits better on a coffee table than a bookshelf。Munger is extremely bright， inquisitive and like buffet is constantly learning and reading。 Buffet and munger are probably a perfect match for each other 。 His knowledge about countless subjects and subjects he has no formal education on is incredible。The authors and munger do a real nice job describing his upbringing and beliefs especially around the rig A real bear of a giant encyclopedia like book。 Book probably weighs 10 pounds。 Book is huge and sits better on a coffee table than a bookshelf。Munger is extremely bright， inquisitive and like buffet is constantly learning and reading。 Buffet and munger are probably a perfect match for each other 。 His knowledge about countless subjects and subjects he has no formal education on is incredible。The authors and munger do a real nice job describing his upbringing and beliefs especially around the right character a person should have。 The 12 talks or presentations in the book are very interesting and relatable。 At a number of times he is questioned to provide his 3 investment keys to success or life in general。 His responses are always witty and lacking the questioners desired response as he can’t name 3 and probably has 45 different investment criteria he and buffet consider。Berkshires and Graham’s thoughts on margin of safety is quite fascinating。 Throughout the book the authors and munger do an amazing job quoting countless famous orators， scientists， Ben Franklin， etc on important life lessons。 A real gem of a book which will provide countless history lessons including the person who created cash registers。 Book will probably go up in value as munger who is 97 won’t be at many future shareholders meetings。 This years is in California。 An amazing read that will take awhile to get through but leaves the reader savoring the important life lessons that are shared。 。。。more
Jeremy Lee
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I intend to reread。 I leave my sword to those who can wield it。
Ervent G
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I have always thought， that specialization is the key to mastery。 After reading Charlie’s Almanack， i realized that i am chasing after the wrong things。 This book is not just an autobiography， it is also an investment， history and most of its part， a self-help book。 This book is definitely worth rereading。 Favorite takeaways:- Prescription to misery: to learn everything you possibly can from your own mistake- Don‘t learn with great rapidity。 The game is to keep learning。- The iron rule of life i I have always thought， that specialization is the key to mastery。 After reading Charlie’s Almanack， i realized that i am chasing after the wrong things。 This book is not just an autobiography， it is also an investment， history and most of its part， a self-help book。 This book is definitely worth rereading。 Favorite takeaways:- Prescription to misery: to learn everything you possibly can from your own mistake- Don‘t learn with great rapidity。 The game is to keep learning。- The iron rule of life is that only 20% of the people can be in the top fifth。- Succeeding by making the world easy for ourselves， not by solving hard problems- Everything should be made as simple as possible， but no more simple。- Take a simple idea and take it very seriously- learn it all to fluency， like it or not- 25 tendencies of human misjudgement 。。。more
TiSh
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Third edition。 I really liked Charlie's humour。 As much as he claims to be a businessman， the last talk was actually quite academic。 Unintended I'm sure， but still。 I need to get on his level！ Hope he stays around for at least another decade。 Third edition。 I really liked Charlie's humour。 As much as he claims to be a businessman， the last talk was actually quite academic。 Unintended I'm sure， but still。 I need to get on his level！ Hope he stays around for at least another decade。 。。。more
Frances Liu
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My third time reading this book。 Still found something new。 I’m intended to read it at least once a year for the next 3 years。 Basically Charlie just briefly touch on the tip of an iceberg in every speech。 The rest of the icebergs requires us to explore independently。 Charlie just showed us the rabbit hole unfortunately。
E。T。
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本书排版绝了！前三章大量复制粘贴的查理以外的人的语录，没有指导意义的商业互吹，毫无意义的插画，重复的语句，十多页可以说清楚的事，拖沓了150多页。非常影响阅读体验。直接看第四章即可。整本书重复的内容实在是太多了，前面介绍初次引出碎片观点，演讲间内容重复多次，演讲后点评回顾重复1次，配图插画再重复1次。有的内容确实很经典，查理本人的重复算是强调知识点的重要性，出版社在编排上的重复就是在糊弄了，实在恶心！查理的投资理念并不适合普通人。他强调通过自创的“多元思维模型”评估筛选出优质股票，然后重仓投资。而普通人就卡在了筛选出这样的股票上了。如果强行模仿，很可能把股票投资变成了赌博。反而查理所鄙夷的“只买便宜的股票”的格雷厄姆投资理念比较适合普通人，简单易行好操作。但他的生活、学习和决策方法中的：1。 逆向思维2。 学习大量跨学科的基础知识3。 核查检查清单4。 先做不喜欢但必要完成的任务，再奖励自己喜欢的任务就很有借鉴意义。查理芒格阅读建议：1。 传记2。 数学 （复利 & 排列组合）3。 会计学 （复式簿记）4。 硬科学（数学；化学；物理学：临界质量；工程学：质量控制理论、后备系统、断裂点理 本书排版绝了！前三章大量复制粘贴的查理以外的人的语录，没有指导意义的商业互吹，毫无意义的插画，重复的语句，十多页可以说清楚的事，拖沓了150多页。非常影响阅读体验。直接看第四章即可。整本书重复的内容实在是太多了，前面介绍初次引出碎片观点，演讲间内容重复多次，演讲后点评回顾重复1次，配图插画再重复1次。有的内容确实很经典，查理本人的重复算是强调知识点的重要性，出版社在编排上的重复就是在糊弄了，实在恶心！查理的投资理念并不适合普通人。他强调通过自创的“多元思维模型”评估筛选出优质股票，然后重仓投资。而普通人就卡在了筛选出这样的股票上了。如果强行模仿，很可能把股票投资变成了赌博。反而查理所鄙夷的“只买便宜的股票”的格雷厄姆投资理念比较适合普通人，简单易行好操作。但他的生活、学习和决策方法中的：1。 逆向思维2。 学习大量跨学科的基础知识3。 核查检查清单4。 先做不喜欢但必要完成的任务，再奖励自己喜欢的任务就很有借鉴意义。查理芒格阅读建议：1。 传记2。 数学 （复利 & 排列组合）3。 会计学 （复式簿记）4。 硬科学（数学；化学；物理学：临界质量；工程学：质量控制理论、后备系统、断裂点理论。）5。 生物学（社会性昆虫）和生理学6。 心理学 （误判心理学，行为心理学，邪教洗脑）7。 微观经济学 （专利权、商标权、特许经营权） 。。。more
Chris Torregosa
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If you love Ray Dalio's book， Principles， you will surely love this book more。 If you love Ray Dalio's book， Principles， you will surely love this book more。 。。。more
Brahm
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Poor Charlie's Almanack is modeled after Ben Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack; a collection of history， talks and wisdom of Charlie Munger， Warren Buffet's #2 man at Berkshire Hathaway。 I really enjoyed all of the content。 There is some history， some content around Charlie's decision-making framework， a bunch of random "Mungerisms" （Charlie quotes）， and transcripts of eleven talks he's given to different audiences， reproduced with a brief， updated reflection after each。 Charlie is erudite; sel Poor Charlie's Almanack is modeled after Ben Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack; a collection of history， talks and wisdom of Charlie Munger， Warren Buffet's #2 man at Berkshire Hathaway。 I really enjoyed all of the content。 There is some history， some content around Charlie's decision-making framework， a bunch of random "Mungerisms" （Charlie quotes）， and transcripts of eleven talks he's given to different audiences， reproduced with a brief， updated reflection after each。 Charlie is erudite; self-taught across many disciplines and able to synthesize insights across disciplines， time and history。 It's not a book about investing or finance， it's more about ethics， morality， human psychology， general business， sound judgement， and history。 Some of Charlie's collected quotes I am going to take away: - "What you measure is what you get" - Jack Welch of GE - "If you were to persuade， appeal to to interest and not to reason" - Ben Franklin。 - The iron rule of communication from Carl （C。F。） Braun， who built over 250 petrochemical plants: If you're issuing a directive， you must specify Who is going to do What， When， Where and most importantly Why。 Apparently not including the Why was a fireable offence。 I think we can all agree that when the "Why" is missing from company/organization policies， instructions from your boss， or requests from a colleague， it is very frustrating。 This is a big coffee table hardcover; about 12" by 12" and maybe 1。5" thick。 A big monster。 I have to credit this book with opening up a new reading style for me。 It turns out a coffee table book is perfect to read at the table over one's morning coffee or solo meals， as it holds itself open to the right page。 So I'm looking forward to tackling at least 2 more large coffee table books in my collection that I've only flipped through but never read。 Two minor complaints。 One， all core content on each page was framed by sidebars of random facts and trivia collected by the editor。 While interesting， trying to take in all this errata interrupted the flow of reading the talks （which read well as essays）。 Two， the editor takes key sentences in the middle of a talk/essay， and reproduces them in the middle of that essay in a larger font and bolded （you know what I mean， like a magazine article？）。 My complaint， and maybe I am just not reading carefully enough， is that SOMETIMES this impact text appeared in the talk and was redundant， and SOMETIMES it did not appear in the talk， and was part of the talk's flow。 So again: interrupting the flow of the key content。 This book hit my radar because it was one of Neil Pasricha's top 20 reads of 2020 （great monthly email newsletter about books）。 I suspect Neil got the recommendation from Shane Parrish when Neil was a guest on the Knowledge Project podcast in mid-2020， as Shane is a Munger super-fan。 I have a copy of this huge， relatively rare/obscure coffee table book available to lend out if my Saskatoon friends are curious。 If you think you might like it you probably will， but I think the 4。51 rating is over-inflated。 。。。more
Nero Desu
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One of the most interesting and in-depth book about life。 Charlie has filled it up with anecdotes （as far as I remember， haven't reread it in a while） and proverbs。 I'm mostly keen on the last chapter that I remember to some kind of degree， "The Psychology of Human Misjudgments"， which I've also taken notes of。 A read for anyone and everyone One of the most interesting and in-depth book about life。 Charlie has filled it up with anecdotes （as far as I remember， haven't reread it in a while） and proverbs。 I'm mostly keen on the last chapter that I remember to some kind of degree， "The Psychology of Human Misjudgments"， which I've also taken notes of。 A read for anyone and everyone 。。。more
Martin Yau
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This book provides an excellent insight into human psychology in a series of talks Charlie Munger gave over the years。 The psychological traits are described in a coherent manner with good examples。 The last chapter summarises the main points made in the book。The only slight downside about this book is that it is that if the reader does not read the book properly they may be unable to fully understand the important points outlined， and the explanations about some points may seem convoluted。The a This book provides an excellent insight into human psychology in a series of talks Charlie Munger gave over the years。 The psychological traits are described in a coherent manner with good examples。 The last chapter summarises the main points made in the book。The only slight downside about this book is that it is that if the reader does not read the book properly they may be unable to fully understand the important points outlined， and the explanations about some points may seem convoluted。The author has done his best to keep the contents as coherent and succinct as possible， which was not an easy task。The 3 most important lessons are;1。 Keep learning and acknowledge weaknesses2。 Learn from a wide variety of disciplines， and3。 Look at problems from multiple angles in order to work out the best solution to solve them。I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in improving their life skills， psychological understanding and wisdom。 。。。more
Calvin
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REVISIT THIS BOOK 2022 FEB 1ST
Must C。 Ann
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"I have nothing to add。" :） "I have nothing to add。" :） 。。。more
Artur
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The editor did a horrible job with this book。 Most books are unnecessarily long， but this one was the biggest waste ever。 Instead of adding 10 speeches， he could just distill it to some condensed takeaways。 Many speeches were overlapping over and over again。 Simply don’t get how this book has so many good reviews。 Not disagreeing with the wisdom inside。 Just not a good in my opinion
Suhag Patel
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Superb Book when it comes to critical thinking ， I learned a lot form Legendary investor
Armando Hysenaj
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Valuable lessons regarding Investment strategies， psychology， human natyre and a lot of good book recommendations by Charlie。
Junhui
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