Name: Poor Charlie's Almanack
ISBN: 9781578645015

Poor Charlie's Almanack

From the legendary vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, lessons in investment strategy, philanthropy, and living a rational and ethical life. “Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up,” Charles T. Munger advises in Poor Charlie’s Almanack. Originally published in 2005, this compendium of eleven talks delivered by the legendary Berkshire Hathaway vice-chairman between 1986 and 2007 has become a touchstone for a generation of investors and entrepreneurs seeking to absorb the enduring wit and wisdom of one of the great minds of the 20th and 21st centuries. Edited by Peter D. Kaufman, chairman and CEO of Glenair and longtime friend of Charlie Munger—whom he calls “this generation’s answer to Benjamin Franklin”—this abridged Stripe Press edition of Poor Charlie’s Almanack features a brand-new foreword by Stripe cofounder John Collison. Poor Charlie’s Almanack draws on Munger’s encyclopedic knowledge of business, finance, history, philosophy, physics, and ethics—and more besides—to introduce the latticework of mental models that underpin his rational and rigorous approach to life, learning, and decision-making. Delivered with Munger’s characteristic sharp wit and rhetorical flair, it is an essential volume for any reader seeking to go to bed a little wiser than when they woke up.

What Hacker News says

PaulRobinsonSep 2026

What, you're all reading the books? I thought the point was to just buy them excitedly, and then let them accumulate around you and when your partner complains about them quote that thing Umberto Eco said about needing a personal library or something... :)

Recent completions:

- The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick. I found it well written, but ultimately lacking in something - I kind of wanted the other boot to drop at the end.

- Poor Charlie's Almanack. Stripe Press published this collection of Charlie Munger's speeches and I've found I broadly agree with him on a ton of stuff and am slightly excited by some of his ideas that are new to me.

I'm about to have some time off recovering from a planned medical procedure and expect to have a mix of sci-fi, good quality non-fiction and at least one heavy "literary" book. I'm a big fan of Borges, so I might reread some of that work, or maybe pick up some adjacent/similar authors like Calvino too.

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scubakidJul 2025

Thanks. For a while there, it wasn't clear to me which side of the line I was walking.

Something that stuck with me from Poor Charlie’s Almanack is that low expectations are a cornerstone of a happy life. I built this for myself first, so when people actually signed up and paid, it was incredibly motivating. I was thrilled to spend my free time treating those early customers like royalty and building more of what they wanted.

If I had instead come into this with the expectation of quick success, I doubt I would have made it through those early years.

And cheers from one bootstrapper to another. It's not easy, but I can't imagine a more rewarding way to build.

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TheAlchemistMar 2025

Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger.

Frankly, I doubt you will find anything better in finance that what came from those 2 guys. It's pure, old school, wisdom. Backed by >50 years of outstanding financial results.

If you can afford it, buy them 'Poor Charlie's Almanack' by Charlie Munger - and let them go down the rabbit hole.

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krishna2Jan 2025

Here are a few of my favorite reads from 2024.

If I were to just pick one favorite, it is not even a contest. Heck, challenge me to pick one favorite in a decade, it would still be this. Charlie Munger! Charlie Munger: Poor Charlie’s Almanack I even wrote about this: https://krishna2.com/munger

Just like countless others, I too grew up bewildered by Jackie Chan's movies and his stunts. And I liked his autobiography.

Jackie Chan: Never Grow Up

I read "The Poppy War" - even though I liked it, I didn't want to go down a full-fledged series. I read "Yellowface" and loved it so much. I have "Babel" on my shelf - but (irrationally) I am not reading it thinking that it would be over if I read it.

R. F. Kuang: Yellowface

I can't wait for what R.F. Kuang's going to come up with next.

This is an old classic -- my son recommended this to me. I enjoyed it.

Goethe: The Sorrows of Young Werther

What an amazing biography. Very very inspiring.

Robin Marantz Henig: Monk in the Garden: Life of Gregor Mendel

I had gotten her "Ember in the Ashes" in 2016 or so but never got to it - but this story snipper caught my attention. What a lovely book. It is set in a Motel in a Sierra Nevada town in California. Loved the book. Promptly went back to read "Ember in the ashes". This book (all my rage) won the National Book Award for Young Readers.

Sabhaa Tahir: All my Rage

Everyone's bound to get on this train sooner or later (I think this is being made into a movie) -- 440,000+ reviews on amazon. I got curious and got this book. Liked it.

Freida McFadden: The Housemaid

I am keeping the recommendations to a general audience and hence skipping my Vedanta books (which I thoroughly relish/read and read again many times). Oh, there are a bunch of business books too, a bunch more fiction this year (than my usual ratio) including a few LitRPG and of course, some running related. As always, you can see the full list here:

https://krishna2.com/books

Here's to a happy prosperous fulfilling 2025!

Happy reading!

This post is available at: https://krishna2.com/2024 Post on Jan 1, 2024 (2023 reading): https://krishna2.com/2023 Post on Jan 1, 2023 (2022 reading): https://krishna2.com/2022

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vintageclothldnDec 2024

Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger released recently through Stripe Books. https://press.stripe.com/poor-charlies-almanack

I read it for the first time on PDF and it is so much more enjoyable in print format. The recent Stripe Press edition is particularly well-crafted. The physical format lets you more easily flip back and forth, underline key insights, and digest Munger's wisdom at your own pace.

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vintageclothldnNov 2024

Tyler Cowen just published his best non-fiction books of 2024 list on Marginal Revolution: https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2024/11/best-non-fiction-of-2024.html

The best non-fiction books I have read this year are:

"Six Pillars of Self-Esteem" by Nathaniel Branden - Interesting insights into the concept of self-esteem and how it is influenced by the wider world

"The Code Book" by Simon Singh - An oldie but saw it recommended last year on HN and found it to be a fascinating look at the history of cryptography, written in an engaging and approachable way

"Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger" by Charles T. Munger - After Charlie's unfortunate passing, I read this again. So much life wisdom on every page

What's the best non-fiction book you read in 2024?

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