Warren and I have skills that could easily be taught to other people. One skill is knowing the edge of your own competency. It’s not a competency if you don’t know the edge of it. And Warren and I are better at tuning out the standard stupidities. We’ve left a lot of more talented and diligent people in the dust, just by working hard at eliminating standard error. — Charlie Munger (source)

Someday I’m going to write a piece called “The Perils of Brilliance.” The times I have been most wrong are the times I thought I was most right. You asked me at the beginning about the things I’ve learned from all of this, and I have to repeat: It’s humility. I think the reason I’ve been able to survive 55 years in this business is because I developed humility, at least after 1958. It’s the only way to survive—not necessarily to be the top quartile—but survival is really the name of the game we’re playing with long-term considerations. — Peter Bernstein (source)

Visualize yourself looking back when you’re 80 years old, reviewing whether you invested your money wisely. Ask, “What is it I can trust myself to do in good times and in bad?” Then write it down on one side of a single sheet of paper — when you’ll put money in, how you’ll manage it, when and why you’ll take it out. The best plan, for most of us, is to commit to buying some index funds and do nothing else. Benign neglect is the secret to long-term success.  If you change your investment policy, you are likely to be wrong; if you change it with a sense of urgency, you’re guaranteed to be wrong. — Charles Ellis (source)