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BY OTHERSTuesday, November 28, 2023

by Warren Buffett · Charlie Munger

Two men in Omaha. One built the latticework of mental models; the other rode them to the longest sustained outperformance in capital-market history. A ledger of what they actually said - and a working manual of how they thought.

tags: buffett, munger, berkshire, mental models, inversion, compounding, investing, wisdom, latticework, circle of competence, incentives

∮   ∞   ∮
author
Warren Buffett · Charlie Munger
filed
Tuesday, November 28, 2023
revised
May 14, 2026
words
2,828
reading
~15 min

A · D · M M X X V ·   THE OMAHA LEDGER   ·   OF

BUFFETT&MUNGER

TWO MEN · ONE LEDGER · SIXTY YEARS

“Charlie is the architect. I am the general contractor.”

PrincipalsWarren Edward Buffett · b. 1930, Omaha NE · still at the desk at 95
Charles Thomas Munger · 1924 – 2023 · 99 yrs 33 days · Omaha + Los Angeles
Partnership1959 (first meeting, Omaha Country Club) – 2023 · 65 years
VehicleBerkshire Hathaway · from a failing textile mill in 1965 to a $1.1 trillion conglomerate
Compound~19.8 % per year, 1965 – 2023 · the longest sustained outperformance in capital-market history
MethodLatticework of mental models · margin of safety · inversion · circle of competence · compounding · patience
Key textsBuffett's Shareholder Letters (1957–) · Poor Charlie's Almanack (Kaufman, 2005) · The Snowball (Schroeder, 2008)
In this ledger362 quotations · 130 from Buffett, 232 from Munger · filter by voice, mental model, or phrase

“Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up.” - C.M.

SHAREHOLDER LETTERS · POOR CHARLIE’S ALMANACK · DAILY JOURNAL · BERKSHIRE AGMs

The Omaha Ledger

362 entries from Warren Buffett (130) and Charlie Munger (232) - 362 showing. Pick a voice, a mental model, or any phrase to search.

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1 / 362

Colophon

The combined ledger holds 232 entries from Munger and 130 from Buffett - three hundred and sixty-two quotations, filterable by voice (BOTH / BUFFETT / MUNGER), by scope (ALL / PRACTICAL for the late-life curated subset), by mental model, and by any phrase.

The Munger corpus draws on 153 entries from Tao of Charlie Munger (David Clark, Scribner, 2017); the full text of the 1986 Harvard School commencement address; Poor Charlie's Almanack (Kaufman ed., 2005); selected Daily Journal Annual Meetings (2014–2023); and the USC Law (2007) and Caltech (2008) commencements.

The Buffett corpus draws on Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder letters (1957–present); the 1991 Notre Dame faculty talk; the 1998 University of Florida talk; the 2007 USC commencement; The Snowball (Alice Schroeder, 2008); and the Berkshire annual meetings (1980–present).

Section VIII (the biases & thinking-tools kit) draws on Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger (Peter Bevelin, 2007), condensed by Derek Sivers. The taxonomy of mental models is Munger's own, from the 1994 USC Business School address ("Elementary Worldly Wisdom").

The interactive elements:

  • The Two Rules / Inner Scorecard - Buffett's most quoted line and his father Howard's framework.
  • The Latticework / Inversion - Munger from the 1994 USC and 1996 Stanford talks.
  • Circle of Competence / Incentives / Compounding - both, drawn from the AGM record.
  • The Hiring Filter - Buffett, U. of Florida 1998.
  • The 20-Punch Card - Buffett, Berkshire AGM 1991.
  • Three Career Rules - Munger, Poor Charlie's Almanack.
  • The 5/25 Rule - Buffett, in conversation with Mike Flint.
  • A Prescription for Misery - Munger, Harvard School commencement, 13 June 1986.

The guarantee-misery commencement speech is published in full separately: How to Guarantee a Life of Misery.

Warren E. Buffett · b. 1930 · still working at 95.
Charles T. Munger · 1924 – 2023 · 99 years, 33 days.

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