If You Mix Raisins With Turds, They’re Still Turds

Happy Sunday!

Many of you will know that I am a huge fan of Berkshire Hathaway and it's two leaders; Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger. While Buffett often gets a lot of the media attention, alongside a large part of the credit of Berkshire's success, I would argue that Munger is by far the wiser of the two. He's arguably also the more impressive person.

To give you a short backstory of the man, at the age of 31, Munger was divorced, broke, and coming to terms with the death of his 9-year-old son. A few years later, a failed eye cataract surgery left him blind in his left eye. He eventually had the eye removed due to severe pain.

He's seen a lot of things, had a lot of life experiences and this is perhaps a reason for why he's such a wise man. He's been there, done that and seen it all.

He's super impressive and something I admire about him is the way he simplifies complex ideas. In a short clip from what looks to be a Berkshire Hathaway's 2005 annual shareholder meeting, Munger displays his pragmatism and dry sense of humour as he tells the audience that “If you mix raisins with turds, they’re still turds”.

I thought this analogy was fantastic. This was how he explained why mixing the mathematics of the Ponzi scheme with legitimate development like the development of the internet isn't a good thing. You're still mixing something wretched and irrational with something with very good consequences – the raisin and the turd.

“If you mix raisins with turds, they’re still turds”
– Charlie Munger

Yes, he's one of the greatest living business leaders in the world today. But he's also a super talented man. Although he began his career practising law, many people don't know that architecture is one of his passions and one of his side hustles. He's designed and built apartment projects near Los Angeles, and also the house he lives in today (61 years later). He's also designed complexes at Stanford and University of Michigan and is currently working on another major project.

He's someone I very much admire and look up to. A true inspiration and the world is a far better place with him around.

Have an awesome week ahead,
Samuel

This Week's Wisdom

"Nothing too good or too bad stays that way forever, because great times plant the seeds of their own destruction through complacency and leverage, and bad times plant the seeds of their own turnaround through opportunity and panic-driven problem-solving."

– Permanent Assumptions, by Morgan Housel

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