Creative accounting is an absolute curse to a civilization. One could argue that double-entry bookkeeping was one of history's great advances. Using… — Charlie Munger Copy Share Image
I also want to raise the possibility that there are, in the very long term, "virtue effects" in economics- for instance that… — Charlie Munger Copy Share Image
Economists get very uncomfortable when you talk about virtue and vice. It doesn't lend itself to a lot of columns with numbers.… — Charlie Munger Copy Share Image
You have to know accounting. It's the language of practical business life. It was a very useful thing to deliver to civilization.… — Charlie Munger Copy Share Image
Almost all good businesses engage in 'pain today, gain tomorrow' activities. — Charlie Munger Copy Share
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… — Charlie Munger Copy Share
Acquire worldly wisdom and adjust your behavior accordingly. If your new behavior gives you a little temporary unpopularity with your peer group then to… — Charlie Munger Copy Share
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… — Charlie Munger Copy Share
I have what I call an iron prescription that helps me keep sane when I naturally drift toward preferring one ideology over another and… — Charlie Munger Copy Share
The tax code gives you an enormous advantage if you can find some things you can just sit with. — Charlie Munger Copy Share
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… — Charlie Munger Copy Share
Some years ago one oil company bought a fertilizer company, and every other major oil company practically ran out and bought a fertilizer company.… — Charlie Munger Copy Share
They [Mc Donalds] take people and give them a first job, which enables them to get a second job. They do a very good… — Charlie Munger Copy Share
We believe that almost all really good investment records will involve relatively little diversification. The basic idea that it was hard to find good… — Charlie Munger Copy Share
It is way less certain to be a wonderful business in the future. The threat is alternative mediums of information. Every newspaper is scrambling… — Charlie Munger Copy Share
In the corporate world, if you have analysts, due diligence, and no horse sense, you've just described hell. — Charlie Munger Copy Share
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… — Charlie Munger Copy Share
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… — Charlie Munger Copy Share
