“Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”
– Warren Buffett
At Berkshire’s annual meeting, Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger talked about the state of the economy and what they expect.
But they also dropped some wisdom.
Here are a few of the highlights…
Buffett: “Write your obituary and try to figure out how to live up to it. For business, You just want to make sure you don’t make any mistakes that take you out of the game or come close to taking you out of the game. You should never have a night when you’re worried about investing. You should spend a little bit less than you earn.”
Buffett said he learned the following two lessons from Tom Murphy:
- “You can always tell someone to go to hell tomorrow.”
- “Praise by name, criticize by category.”
Buffett also said:
“I’ve never known anybody who was kind that died without friends. But I’ve known plenty of people with money that died without friends.”
Munger: “It’s so simple: you spend less than you earn. Invest shrewdly. Avoid toxic people and toxic activities. Try to keep learning all your life. And do a lot of deferred gratification. If you do all of those things, you are almost certain to succeed. And if you don’t, you’re going to need a lot of luck. And you don’t want to need a lot of luck. You want to go into a game where you’re very likely to win without having any unusual luck.”
Buffett added: “You need to know how people can manipulate other people and you need to resist the temptation to do it yourself.”
Munger agreed: “Oh yes, the toxic people who are trying to fool you, lie to you, or who aren’t reliable in meeting their commitments—a great lesson in life is to get them the hell out of your life. And do it fast.”
Buffett once more: “And do it tactfully, too, if possible. But do get them out of your life.”
Here’s a five-minute video recap with some of those highlights.