I aim to explore the interconnected themes of human behavior, investment wisdom, and self-realization. Drawing insights from renowned thinkers and investors, I intend to delve into the profound wisdom encapsulated in quotes and observations from individuals such as Will Durant, William James, Elroy Dimson, Naval Ravikant, Charlie Munger, and many others. By examining these diverse perspectives, I aim to comprehensively explore the principles that can guide my decision-making, shape my attitudes, and influence my pursuit of personal and financial growth.
Psychology, Philosophy, and History
- “Psychology is a theory of human behavior. Philosophy is an ideal of human behavior. History is a record of human behavior.” – Will Durant
- “The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes.” – William James
- “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle
Investment
- “Risk means more things can happen than will happen.” – Elroy Dimson
- “If something looks irrational – and has been so for a long time – odds are you have a wrong definition of rationality.” – Taleb
- “It takes character to sit there with all that cash and do nothing. I didn’t get to where I am by going after mediocre opportunities.”
- “You don’t have to be brilliant, only a little bit wiser than the other guys, on average, for a long, long, time.” – Charlie Munger
- “Opportunity comes to the prepared mind.” – Charlie Munger
- “Anytime anybody offers you anything with a big commission and a 200-page prospectus, don’t buy it. Occasionally, you’ll be wrong if you adopt ‘Munger’s Rule.’ However, over a lifetime, you’ll be a long way ahead, and you will miss a lot of unhappy experiences.” – – Charlie Munger
- “Intense interest in any subject is indispensable if you’re really going to excel in it.” – Charlie Munger
- “A great business at a fair price is superior to a fair business at a great price.” – Charlie Munger
- “Suppose you were a real estate investor with a 1/3 interest in the best apartment complex in town, the best mall, and the best office building. Would you feel like a poor, undiversified investor? No! But as soon as you get into stocks, people feel this way. Partly, people need to justify their fees.” – – Charlie Munger
- “In engineering, people have a big margin of safety. But in the financial world, people don’t give a damn about safety. They let it balloon and balloon and balloon. It’s aided by false accounting.” – Charlie Munger
- “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.” – Charlie Munger
- “Failure to handle psychological denial is a common way for people to go broke: You have made an enormous commitment to something. You have poured effort and money in. And the more you put in, the more that the whole consistency principle makes you think, ‘Now it has to work. If I put in just a little more, then it will work.'” – Charlie Munger
- “When you locate a bargain, you must ask, ‘Why me, God? Why am I the only one who could find this bargain?'” – Charlie Munger
- “The stock market is filled with individuals who know the price of everything, but the value of nothing.” – Philip Fisher
- “In investing, what is comfortable is rarely profitable.” – Robert Arnott
Self-Realization
- “My definition of wisdom is knowing the long-term consequences of your actions.” – Naval Ravikant
- “Show me a man who thinks he’s objective and I’ll show you a man who’s deceiving himself.” – Henry Luce
- “The cure for imposter syndrome is to realize that all the other people are just convincing imposters, too.” – Alison Gopnik
- “The man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.” – Twain
- “Whenever you think something or some person is ruining your life, it’s you. A victimization mentality is so debilitating.” – Charlie Munger
- “Knowing what you don’t know is more useful than being brilliant.” – Charlie Munger
- “Remember that reputation and integrity are your most valuable assets, and can be lost in a heartbeat.” – Charlie Munger
- “Forgetting your mistakes is a terrible error if you are trying to improve your cognition.” – Charlie Munger
- “If it is wisdom you’re after, you’re going to spend a lot of time on your ass reading.” – Charlie Munger
- “You have to learn to be a follower before you become a leader.” – Charlie Munger
- “Mimicking the herd invites regression to the mean.” – Charlie Munger
- “It’s not a competency if you don’t know the edge of it.” – Charlie Munger
- “If you don’t keep learning, other people will pass you by. Temperament alone won’t do it. You need a lot of curiosity.” – Charlie Munger
- “I did not succeed in life by intelligence. I succeeded because I have a long attention span.” – Charlie Munger
- “Acquire worldly wisdom and adjust your behavior accordingly. If your new behavior gives you a little temporary unpopularity with your peer group, then to hell with them.” – Charlie Munger
- “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” – Socrates
- “The unexamined life is not worth living.” – Socrates
- “Master the skills you want to delegate to others.” – Vusi Thembekwayo
Relationships
- “Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.” – Charlie Munger
- “It’s a rare person who wants to hear what he doesn’t want to hear.” — Richard Cavett
- “I learned early that people will admire your work more if they are not jealous of you.” – Benjamin Franklin
- “The best arguments in the world won’t change a single person’s mind. The only thing that can do that is a good story.” – Richard Powers
- “I try to get rid of people who always confidently answer questions about which they don’t have any real knowledge.” – Charlie Munger
- “Avoid working directly under somebody you don’t admire and don’t want to be like.” – Charlie Munger
- “The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.” – Theodore Roosevelt
- “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou