“Why do we complain of Nature?  She has shown herself kindly; life, if you know how to use it, is long.  But one man is possessed by an avarice that is insatiable, another by a toilsome devotion to tasks that are useless; one man is besotted with wine, another is paralyzed by sloth; one man is exhausted by an ambition that always hangs upon the decision of others, another, driven on by the greed of the trader, is led over all lands and all seas by the hope of gain…many are kept busy either in the pursuit of other men’s fortune or in complaining of their own; many, following no fixed aim, shifting and inconstant and dissatisfied, are plunged by their fickleness into plans that are ever new; some have no fixed principle by which to direct their course, but Fate takes them unawares while they loll and yawn – so surely does it happen that I cannot doubt the truth of that utterance which the greatest of poets delivered with all the seeming of an oracle: “The part of life we really live is small.  For all the rest of existence is not life, but merely time.” -Seneca

“You squander time as if you drew from a full and abundant supply, though all the while that day which you bestow on some person or thing is perhaps your last.  You have all the fears of mortals and all the desires of immortals.  You will hear many men saying, “After my fiftieth year I shall retire into leisure, my sixtieth year shall release me from public duties.”  And what guarantee, pray, have you that your life will last longer?  Who will suffer your course to be just as you plan it?  Are you not ashamed to reserve for yourself only the remnant of life, and to set apart for wisdom only that time which cannot be devoted to any business?  How late it is to begin to live just when we must cease to live!  What foolish forgetfulness of mortality to postpone wholesome plans to the fiftieth and sixtieth year, and to intend to begin life at a point to which few have attained!” -Seneca

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow.  Learn as if you were to live forever.” -Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

“The purpose of life is to be loved by as many people as possible among those you want to have love you.” -Warren Buffett

“Success is often more determined by grit and deliberate practice than IQ.” -Unknown

“Instead of looking for success, make a list of how to fail instead—through sloth, envy, resentment, self-pity, entitlement, all the mental habits of self-defeat.  Avoid these qualities and you will succeed.  Tell me where I’m going to die, that is, so I don’t go there.” -Charlie Munger

“In my whole life, I have known no wise people who didn’t read all the time, none, zero.  You’d be amazed at how much Warren reads, at how much I read.  My children laugh at me.  They think I’m a book with a couple of legs sticking out.” -Charlie Munger

“The only way to win is to work, work, work, work, and hope to have a few insights.” -Charlie Munger

“Don’t sell anything you wouldn’t buy yourself; don’t work for anyone you don’t respect and admire; work only with people you enjoy.” -Charlie Munger

“Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up.  Discharge your duties faithfully and well.  Step by step you get ahead, but not necessarily in fast spurts.  But you build discipline by preparing for fast spurts.  Slug it out one inch at a time, day by day.  At the end of the day – if you live long enough – most people get what they deserve.” -Charlie Munger

“Enjoy your own life without comparing it with that of another.” -Condorcet

“The best way to avoid envy is to deserve the success you get.” -Aristotle

“If you are in a job that you are not enthusiastic about, find something else.” -Warren Buffett

“There’s no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit.” -Charlie Munger

“I have succeeded mostly by restricting action to jobs and methods in which I was unlikely to fail.” -Charlie Munger

“Regard your good name as the richest jewel you can possibly be possessed of – for credit is like fire; when once you have kindled it you may easily preserve it, but if you once extinguish it, you will find it an arduous task to rekindle it again.  The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavour to be what you desire to appear.” –Socrates

“The task of man is not to see what lies dimly in the distance but to do what lies clearly at hand.” -Carlyle

“My success is due to curiosity, concentration, perseverance, and self criticism.” -Albert Einstein

“Super strong ideology left or right should be avoided.  Best-form multi-disciplinarity requires an objectivity such passionate people have lost, and a difficult synthesis is not likely to be achieved by minds in ideological fetters.  Ideology-based folly.” -Charlie Munger

“Have low expectations, have a sense of humor, and surround yourself with the love of friends and family.” -Charlie Munger

“If you try and succeed at what you’re worst at, you’re going to have a very lousy career.  Guaranteed.  You have to figure out where your talents lie.  And you’ll have to use your advantages.  Why play a competitive game in a field where you have no advantage – maybe a disadvantage – instead of in a field where you have a clear advantage?” -Charlie Munger

“I believe in the discipline of mastering the best that other people have figured out.  I don’t believe in just sitting down and trying to dream it all up yourself.  Nobody’s that smart…” -Charlie Munger

“It is not the possession of truth, but the success which attends the seeking after it, that enriches the seeker and brings happiness to him.” -Max Planck

“You will make mistakes, but you can learn to make fewer of them than other people and fix your mistakes faster when you do make them.  But there’s no way to live an adequate life without mistakes.  The trick is to get so you can handle mistakes.  Part of what you must learn is how to handle mistakes and new facts that change the odds.  Life, in part, is like a poker game, wherein you have to learn to quit sometimes when holding a much loved hand.” -Charlie Munger

“Do the best that you can do.  Never tell a lie.  If you say you’re going to do it, get it done.  Nobody gives a shit about an excuse.  Leave for the meeting early.  Don’t be late, but if you are late, don’t bother giving people excuses.  Just apologize… return your calls quickly.  Give a five second no; make your mind up; don’t leave people hanging.” -Hal Borthwick

“Face your big troubles.  Don’t sweep them under the rug.” -Charlie Munger