--- title: "7 Dumb Quotes By Charlie Munger" description: "7 Dumb quotes by Charlie Munger. Plus more from Charlie Munger and more Dumb sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a9/charlie-munger-458_conservative_it-s-in-the-nature-of-stock-markets-to-g_702228.jpg" --- > [It's in the nature of stock markets to go way down from time to time. There's no system to avoid bad markets.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/it-s-in-the-nature-of-stock-markets-to-go-way-down-from-time-to-time/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a9/charlie-munger-458_conservative_it-s-in-the-nature-of-stock-markets-to-g_702228.jpg) > [The beauty of a financial institution is that there are a lot of ways to go to hell in a bucket. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/the-beauty-of-a-financial-institution-is-that-there-are-a-lot-of-ways/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/charlie-munger-458_acquisition_the-beauty-of-a-financial-institution-is_1034580.jpg) > [At most corporations if you make an acquisition and it turns out to be a disaster, all the paperwork and presentations that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/at-most-corporations-if-you-make-an-acquisition-and-it-turns-out-to/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fae/charlie-munger-458_acquisition_at-most-corporations-if-you-make-an-acqu_1133619.jpg) > [If you have the opportunities of Berkshire, an investment in gold is dumb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/if-you-have-the-opportunities-of-berkshire-an-investment-in-gold-is/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcc/charlie-munger-458_dumb_if-you-have-the-opportunities-of-berkshi_1978179.jpg) > [...in terms of business mistakes that I've seen over a long lifetime, I would say that trying to minimize taxes too much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/in-terms-of-business-mistakes-that-i-ve-seen-over-a-long-lifetime-i/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c9/charlie-munger-458_advice_in-terms-of-business-mistakes-that-i-ve_2005422.jpg) > [Strategic plans cause more dumb decisions than anything else in America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/strategic-plans-cause-more-dumb-decisions-than-anything-else-in/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca9/charlie-munger-458_america_strategic-plans-cause-more-dumb-decision_2481889.jpg) > [You must know the big ideas in the big disciplines, and use them routinely - all of them, not just a few.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/you-must-know-the-big-ideas-in-the-big-disciplines-and-use-them/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7f/charlie-munger-458_big-idea_you-must-know-the-big-ideas-in-the-big-d_3120836.jpg) ## Other authors on Dumb ## More by Charlie Munger > [Almost all good businesses engage in 'pain today, gain tomorrow' activities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/almost-all-good-businesses-engage-in-pain-today-gain-tomorrow/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [If you want good behavior, don't pay on a commission basis. Our judges aren't paid so much a case. We keep them pretty well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/if-you-want-good-behavior-don-t-pay-on-a-commission-basis-our-judges/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/acquire-worldly-wisdom-and-adjust-your-behavior-accordingly-if-your/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [I think time and time again, in reality, psychological notions and economic notions interplay, and the man who doesn't understand both is a damned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/i-think-time-and-time-again-in-reality-psychological-notions-and/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [I have what I call an iron prescription that helps me keep sane when I naturally drift toward preferring one ideology over another and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/i-have-what-i-call-an-iron-prescription-that-helps-me-keep-sane-when/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [The tax code gives you an enormous advantage if you can find some things you can just sit with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/the-tax-code-gives-you-an-enormous-advantage-if-you-can-find-some/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [The great lesson in microeconomics is to discriminate between when technology is going to help you and when it's going to kill you. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/the-great-lesson-in-microeconomics-is-to-discriminate-between-when/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [Some years ago one oil company bought a fertilizer company, and every other major oil company practically ran out and bought a fertilizer company.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/some-years-ago-one-oil-company-bought-a-fertilizer-company-and-every/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [ They \[Mc Donalds\] take people and give them a first job, which enables them to get a second job. They do a very good… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/they-mc-donalds-take-people-and-give-them-a-first-job-which-enables/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [What good is envy? It’s the one sin you can’t have any fun at.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/what-good-is-envy-it-s-the-one-sin-you-can-t-have-any-fun-at/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [We believe that almost all really good investment records will involve relatively little diversification. The basic idea that it was hard to find good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/we-believe-that-almost-all-really-good-investment-records-will/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [It is way less certain to be a wonderful business in the future. The threat is alternative mediums of information. Every newspaper is scrambling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/it-is-way-less-certain-to-be-a-wonderful-business-in-the-future-the/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [In the corporate world, if you have analysts, due diligence, and no horse sense, you've just described hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/in-the-corporate-world-if-you-have-analysts-due-diligence-and-no/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [We have to have a special insight, or we'll put it in the 'too tough' basket. All of you have to look for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/we-have-to-have-a-special-insight-or-we-ll-put-it-in-the-too-tough/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [I've heard that one-half of the students at elite schools want to go into private equity or hedge funds. They want to keep up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/i-ve-heard-that-one-half-of-the-students-at-elite-schools-want-to-go/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dumb/charlie-munger/#itemlist", "name": "7 Dumb Quotes By Charlie Munger", "numberOfItems": 7, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's in the nature of stock markets to go way down from time to time. There's no system to avoid bad markets. You can't do it unless you try to time the market, which is a seriously dumb thing to do. 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You can push credit too far, do a dumb acquisition, leverage yourself excessively - it's not just derivatives [that can bring about your downfall].", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charlie Munger" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/the-beauty-of-a-financial-institution-is-that-there-are-a-lot-of-ways/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/charlie-munger-458_acquisition_the-beauty-of-a-financial-institution-is_1034580.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/charlie-munger-458_acquisition_the-beauty-of-a-financial-institution-is_1034580.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/charlie-munger-458_acquisition_the-beauty-of-a-financial-institution-is_1034580.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The beauty of a financial institution is that there are a lot of ways to go to hell in a bucket. 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I see terrible mistakes from people being overly motivated by tax considerations. Warren and I personally don't drill oil wells. We pay our taxes. And we've done pretty well, so far. 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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. 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