Summary

The book examines a number of famous investors. A clear commonality amongst them is that they have created positive habits and their lives that allow them to make rational decisions. Quoting the book, “The scientific literature shows that hunger, anger, loneliness, tiredness, pain, and stress are common ‘preconditions for poor decision making’”. In the words of Charlie Munger, the idea is simply to avoid being stupid. Many of these investors follow the Stoic tradition of ancient Greek philosophy, where the general concept is to not worry about things that are out of your control and to focus on what you can control to improve your life. The book is filled with a dazzling array of old wise quotes and sayings, I have my favorite listed below. All in all the book was a joy to read, after reading it you have a sense of the personal stories and characters of the discussed star investors as well as general advice on how to live a life where you can make the best decisions for yourself.

Favorite Quotes:

“Would I rather be the worst lover in the world and be known publicly as the best, or the best lover and be known publicly as the worst”? – Buffet

“The friends, associates, opportunities, careers, and life experiences of our outer world are reflections of what is happening within us.” – Templeton

“We have two classes of forecasters: Those who don’t know – and those who don’t known they don’t know.” – John Kenneth Galbraith

“It’s frightening to think that you might know something, but more frightening to think that, by and large, the world is run by people who have faith that they know exactly what’s going on.” – Daniel Kahneman

“Stare too long into the abyss and you become the abyss.” – Nietzsche

“The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.” – William James

“I don’t know whether there’s a God or not, but if you change the word from God to good, I completely believe in that…It’s enough for me that good exists, and I believe that good things grow.” – Nick Sleep

“Forget about perfection; focus on progression, and compound the improvements.” – Sir David Brailsford

“Nothing is easier than self-deceit.” - Demosthenes

“Basically, you can’t control what happens to you, you can control your attitude towards it.” Bill Miller

“You can only be a ‘victim’ of yourself” – Jim Stockdale (Former Prisoner of War)

“We can take total responsibility for our intensions, emotions, and attitudes.” – William Green

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” – Philo of Alexandria

“If your life is more important than your principles, you sacrifice your principles. If your principles are more important than your life, you sacrifice your life.” – Van Den Berg’s Psychiatrist

“Wherever you have friends, that’s your country, and wherever you receive love, that’s your home.” – Tibetan Saying