Poor Charlie’s Almanack
The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger
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4.3 • 11 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
From the legendary vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, lessons in investment strategy, philanthropy, and living a rational and ethical life.
“Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up,” Charles T. Munger advises in Poor Charlie’s Almanack. Originally published in 2005, this compendium of eleven talks delivered by the legendary Berkshire Hathaway vice-chairman between 1986 and 2007 has become a touchstone for a generation of investors and entrepreneurs seeking to absorb the enduring wit and wisdom of one of the great minds of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Edited by Peter D. Kaufman, chairman and CEO of Glenair and longtime friend of Charlie Munger—whom he calls “this generation’s answer to Benjamin Franklin”—this abridged Stripe Press edition of Poor Charlie’s Almanack features a brand-new foreword by Stripe cofounder John Collison.
Poor Charlie’s Almanackdraws on Munger’s encyclopedic knowledge of business, finance, history, philosophy, physics, and ethics—and more besides—to introduce the latticework of mental models that underpin his rational and rigorous approach to life, learning, and decision-making. Delivered with Munger’s characteristic sharp wit and rhetorical flair, it is an essential volume for any reader seeking to go to bed a little wiser than when they woke up.
Customer Reviews
Mixed fruit
This is a revised and (slightly) updated version released (rushed out might be more accurate) in honour of (or to exploit, take your pick) the recent demise of (at age 99 years and 11 months) of legendary American investor Charlie Munger. For those unfamiliar with many legendary investors, Munger was the longstanding co-chair of Berkshire Hathaway, the company created by even more legendary investor Warren Buffett, a spring chicken by comparison at 93 going on 94. How good are these guys, you ask? If you’d bought shares in Berkshire in 1978 when Charlie came on board and held on to them, your nest egg would have increased in value by almost 16,000 percent.
The title is a reference to one of Charlie’s heroes, US founding father and polymath, Ben Franklin, who first achieved notoriety and wealth by publishing Poor Richard's Almanack. The title comes from Franklin’s pseudonym at the time: Richard Saunders. ‘Wikipedia’ couldn’t enlighten me on where that name came from, only that almanacks were very popular in pre-revolutionary America, and for a long time afterwards. They contained a mixture of seasonal weather forecasts, practical household hints, puzzles, and other amusements. Social media of the day, sort of.
‘Poor Charlie’s Almanack’ is basically a collection of speeches, lectures etc by the great man padded out with eulogising by his family and friends. They’re about more than just investing. Not quite life, the universe, and everything but heading that way. Long story short, Munger was an amusing, at times, acerbic speaker whose greatest skill was knowing when to keep his mouth shut. Otherwise, this collection would have been much longer. The “classic” Munger quotes are all in here, although it’s easier to Google them than have to wade through three-decades-old speaker notes, which feel a little dated, principally because they are. FTR, my favourites are “Knowing what you don’t know is more useful than being brilliant,” and “When you mix raisins and turds, you’ve still got turds.” I’m