Charlie Munger_WSJ interview

[EvelynTroy]

The full transcript of a six hour interview with Mr. Munger, by Jason Zweig and Nicole Friedman of the the WSJ - his philosophies of life, business, and investing. What a wonderful mind - straight forward, and lessons / things to think about far more than investing.
This shared link is not behind a paywall now - its a long read, 20 pages converted to a google doc.

[url]ttps://www.wsj.com/articles/charlie-munger-unp ... mail_share[/url]

One of my favorites -

Q: Is being in the public eye partly an act?

A: My favorite quotation of all life comes from acting. Late in life, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, who I always liked, an old English actor, he said the following: “I have been a great actor for so long that I no longer know what I truly think on any subject.” [Editor’s note: QuoteInvestigator.com, a website that verifies quotations, wasn’t able to verify the origins of this line.] And I think when you pretend to believe this or that all the time, it’s so habit-forming to your mind that you do get confused about what in the hell you really know.

I think he was speaking the literal truth. That’s what happens to our politicians and some of our business figures too. If you read the annual reports and the statements, say on CNBC, of our CEOs, it’s always robust, they’re solving all the problems, they’ve got great people. You know it has to be horseshit half the time, yet I think every one of them believes it. They’re like Sir Cedric Hardwicke: “I no longer know what I truly think on any subject.” They brainwash themselves. I don’t do that.

If I have to be a little bit more cheerful about things, then I say to myself, ‘I’m lying, but I’m going to do it anyway.’ [Pause.] I had a son [Teddy] who died [of leukemia in 1955]. I told him he wasn’t going to die. When he started his thing, I lied. It just killed me, but I just lied to him. [Long pause.] He was 9 years old. [Extended pause.] I’m sure I did the right thing, but it hurts. [Clears his throat.]

But Sir Cedric Hardwicke, he diagnoses it correctly. People—when you’re shouting it out, you’re pounding it in. That’s the great rule of life. And that means it’s dangerous to shout things out to impress other people.

It’ll be much better if you say, ‘Here’s a lie I’m going to tell,’ the way I did with my son, ‘Here’s a lie I’m going to tell, because I have to.’

It goes on...

Enjoy - Evelyn

[bondsr4me]

yes, it was a great interview.

I really like Charlie....he tells it like it is and is pretty saucy about too.

He and Warren are two real gems of our lifetime.

[TheTimeLord]

Charlie is awesome. Always a great interview and absolutely amazing for 95.

[boglerdude]

Another amusing interview

https://www.cnbc.com/video/2019/02/15/i ... -more.html

[Yohanson]

Another amusing interview

https://www.cnbc.com/video/2019/02/15/i ... -more.html

He's conflicted in his old age and he needs longer pants.

[linenfort]

The full transcript of a six hour interview with Mr. Munger, by Jason Zweig and Nicole Friedman of the the WSJ
...

Great, thank you for posting it!

[furnace]

Munger was the Berkshire brain behind the recent Occidental deal. He earned for Berkshire investors at least $1B at age 95.

[abuss368]

Thanks!

[Yukon]

But it's now behind the paywall? Or am I missing something?

[ResearchMed]

But it's now behind the paywall? Or am I missing something?

I just found it behind the paywall, too.

RM

[Angst]

Dang... I've tried all the backdoor, private browsing, cookie deleting tricks I can think of but still can't get past. Have they finally perfected the paywall? Time to go to the library perhaps.

[fujiters]

Dang... I've tried all the backdoor, private browsing, cookie deleting tricks I can think of but still can't get past. Have they finally perfected the paywall? Time to go to the library perhaps.

Me too. Do a surprising (to me) number of people here have a subscription or are we missing a way around the paywall?

I wish they'd just offer a per-article charge. I would pay a bit to read this article in particular, but I'm not interested enough to subscribe to all of the WSJ.

[dbr]

Dang... I've tried all the backdoor, private browsing, cookie deleting tricks I can think of but still can't get past. Have they finally perfected the paywall? Time to go to the library perhaps.

Me too. Do a surprising (to me) number of people here have a subscription or are we missing a way around the paywall?

I wish they'd just offer a per-article charge. I would pay a bit to read this article in particular, but I'm not interested enough to subscribe to all of the WSJ.

It might seem that could be a pretty good business but maybe the cost of collecting the money and the volume doesn't work out. These days I just go away if I even have to turn off my ad blocker, let alone subscribe.

[nedsaid]

Another amusing interview

https://www.cnbc.com/video/2019/02/15/i ... -more.html

I always enjoy Charlie Munger. He still has pretty good stamina at age 95. I did notice the wheelchair and I noticed the pauses but how many even make it to 95? I really enjoy his forthright manner. We recently lost Bogle and it won't be too long we will lose Munger too. Enjoy him while you can.

[SGM]

I didn't know much detail about Charlie Munger prior to this interview. I enjoyed his discussion of how he prefers to learn (by reading) and his trial and error design of dormitories. He states there is way too much medical testing and back surgeries. He has seen it from the insurance side. It jives with what I have seen from the primary care/geriatric medicine side. Change the incentives Munger states. One cannot argue with that observation. He has learned a lot in his 95 years...a life well spent.

It looks like Berkshire will benefit from the Anadarko petroleum financing. Chevron will benefit by $1 billion as a penalty for losing the deal. I don't know if Oxy will benefit so much from the deal. Some think Oxy will be owned by Chevron some day.

[JoMoney]

Dang... I've tried all the backdoor, private browsing, cookie deleting tricks I can think of but still can't get past. Have they finally perfected the paywall? Time to go to the library perhaps.

Me too. Do a surprising (to me) number of people here have a subscription or are we missing a way around the paywall?

I wish they'd just offer a per-article charge. I would pay a bit to read this article in particular, but I'm not interested enough to subscribe to all of the WSJ.

The Library is the best option, and I would encourage anybody to use and support their local library(s).
There are still ways to read WSJ articles, but you have to be "referred" to the article from one of the sites that they allow to refer past the pay wall. Once you're aware of a site / domain that is allowed through, you can go to that site and there are ways to spoof a link to any particular WSJ article so that it lets you past the paywall.

I found this online-archive copy of the article by searching for the articles title on Twitter.
https://archive.fo/hgpPV

[Carlos Danger]

Dang... I've tried all the backdoor, private browsing, cookie deleting tricks I can think of but still can't get past. Have they finally perfected the paywall? Time to go to the library perhaps.

I use Firefox browser with the "Bypass Paywalls" add-on anytime I want to read something that is behind one.

Still works as of 5-12-19.

[FlyerJack]

I read it through my library's website. Really good! I always see Buffett in the headlines, so it’s nice to get a more in-depth look at Munger. I’ve just put Poor Charlie's almanack : the wit and wisdom of Charles T. Munger (a collection of his speeches and talks) on hold at the library.