Edward Quince's Wisdom Bites: Remember Munger - Envy

Edward Quince (EQ): Charlie, while your reputation is built on financial success, you often speak profoundly about personal psychology and how to live a happy life. What is the fundamental requirement for contentment?

Charlie Munger (CM): It’s remarkably simple. The first rule of a happy life is low expectations. If you have unrealistic expectations, you’re going to be miserable your whole life. You want to have reasonable expectations and take life’s results good and bad as they happen with a certain amount of stoicism.

EQ: You’ve described one specific sin as the most destructive. Could you elaborate on why envy is so poisonous to happiness?

CM: Envy is a really stupid sin because it’s the only one you could never possibly have any fun at. There’s a lot of pain and no fun. If you allow comparison games to turn into dissatisfaction, it can lead to impulsive and self-destructive decisions. The world is not driven by greed; it’s driven by envy. You should embrace gratitude and be comfortable with your own definition of success.

EQ: Beyond managing internal emotions like envy, you also stress the critical importance of selecting the right people to associate with.

CM: The toxic people who are trying to fool you or lie to you — who aren't reliable in meeting their commitments — the great lesson of life is [to] get them the hell out of your life. And do it fast. We must avoid toxic people and toxic activities. Your ability to choose who you spend your time with is probably the most important thing in life.

EQ: So, a rich life is achieved by focusing on integrity, emotional control, and simplicity.

CM: It is about simplicity: you spend less than you earn. Invest shrewdly. Avoid toxic people and toxic activities. Try to keep learning all your life. And do a lot of deferred gratification. If you do all of those things, you are almost certain to succeed.

The Edward Quince Takeaway

Achieve contentment by setting reasonable expectations for life and ruthlessly eliminating the emotional tax of envy, which Munger characterizes as a “stupid sin” because it offers pain but no fun. Success is found in simplifying your financial behavior and actively removing unreliable and toxic people from your life.