“Trust, success and admiration are earned.” That’s the lesson in the quote above from investment expert Charlie Munger. As simple as it is, it bears repeating.
Photo by noii’s.
The quote comes from Munger’s commencement speech at USC Law School in 2007, transcribed at Farnam Street:
It’s such a simple idea. It’s the golden rule so to speak: You want to deliver to the world what you would buy if you were on the other end. There is no ethos, in my opinion, that is better for any lawyer or any other person to have. By and large the people who have this ethos win in life and they don’t win just money, not just honours. They win the respect, the deserved trust of the people they deal with and there is huge pleasure in life to be obtained from getting deserved trust.
It’s a nice reminder not only that not only do we usually “reap what we sow”, but that respect and success comes from thinking about and empathising with others.
There are so many other great words of advice in the quoted speech, including solving problems by thinking of them backwards, being reliable and objective and avoiding working under or with people you don’t admire.
The Munger Operating System: How to Live a Life That Really Works [Farnam Street]
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