Source: The Future Music Club, Chapter 5 of “The Psychology of Money”

1. Buffett

1. Buffett: I just love to read. I keep reading. I read about five or six hours a day.

Even though I don't read as fast now as I used to, I still read five newspapers and quite a few magazines every day. I read reports and annual reports every day, and I also read many other things. I've always loved reading, and I also love to read character biographies. ——From “Buffett Was Interviewed 2022”

This is a Buffett video I watched when I was looking for information. What's most interesting: the great comment at the bottom of the video is — “It's really idle.”

People commenting and praising this probably think that work is only possible when their hands are busy, and people who don't think never need to think. These people “are always busy and can't be idle”, which is also considered to be a source of hope for others.

2. Buffett: Read everything you can. At age 10, I finished reading every book on finance in the Omaha Public Library, some twice. ——From “The Buffett Chronicles 2019”

3. Buffett: I mean, the opportunity is there. All you have to do is read and think for eight to ten hours every day. You'll cover many possibilities, some of which are good opportunities, and others are pitfalls. ——From “The Buffett Chronicles 2007”

4. Buffett: Fortunately, the investment industry is an industry of accumulation of knowledge. Everything you learn at age 20 or 30, you may make some adjustments as you grow, but all of this will build a knowledge base that will always be useful.

I've read a lot of books, Charlie has read a lot before, and we'll probably read many more.

I read a lot of quarterly reports and many annual reports. Forty or fifty years ago, I talked a lot with management. I used to go out and travel every now and then. I actually visited probably 15 or 20 companies, and I haven't done that for a long time.

I discovered that almost everything we did was found through public documents.

When I bid to buy Clayton Homes, I had never visited the company; I had never met these people; I said it on the phone; I had read Jim Clayton's books; I read financial reports. I know every company in this industry, and I look at its competitors.

5. I try to understand the industry. I don't have any preconceived notions when entering, and read enough information to evaluate the company. —— “The Buffett Chronicles 2003”

6. Buffett: If you are interested in investing, you should also read a lot of books. First, read a lot of books on accounting courses, read lots of books about investment, and gain as much business experience. —— “The Buffett Chronicles 1998”

II. Munger

1. Munger: My most important customer is myself, and I leave time for myself to read and think every day. The benefit of reading and thinking a lot is that once you've read and thought well, you don't need to do anything else.

2. Munger: There are no smart people I've met in my life that I don't read every day, not a single one.

Warren reads so much, I read so much, that you might be surprised. My kids all laugh at me; they think I'm a two-legged book.

I'm a fan of biographical books myself. I think if you want people to know great concepts that are useful, it's best to connect these concepts to the lives and personalities of the great people who proposed them. I think if you can make friends with Adam Smith, then you can definitely learn economics better.

Making friends with “great people who have passed away” sounds fun, but if you do become friends with great people who have passed away in your life, then I think you'll have a better life and a better education. This approach is far better than simply giving a few basic concepts.

3. Munger: I can tell you a truth that business schools won't teach you: if you really want to succeed, if you really want to achieve what others can't, sit on the cold bench and read day after day.

If you find someone to watch Warren, hold a stopwatch and time Warren, you'll find that Warren spent most of his time sitting there reading motionless.

4. Munger: If a person has a very broad career and wants to be successful, it is impossible not to read a lot. Some people have specialized in a very small field, and they may not need much reading to be successful.

Investing is an all-encompassing business. If you don't read a lot and want to make a good investment, I don't think it's possible.

As for what to read, everyone needs to choose according to their interests and characteristics. For example, there is an investor who specializes in studying the pharmaceutical industry. He may have taken a completely different investment path than mine, but he chose the path that suits him, and it is also very successful. He also definitely reads a lot, but he reads things that are different from mine.

5. Munger: I was born with this ability. When I want to concentrate on my studies, I can block everything from the outside world, and I can't even feel the presence of others. I often only want to talk to the ancient people in the book; others are close to me, but I turn a blind eye. This makes others very annoyed.

So don't learn from me. I was born with this ability. I can tell you that of all the smart people I've met, there isn't a single one who doesn't read a lot.

People nowadays are used to reading things on computers. Maybe you can get a lot of useful information by watching a computer, but in my opinion, reading a computer is still not as good as reading a paper book; you can learn more by reading a paper book.

I never take notes. When I was in school, I never took notes.

I read and think, just as I go. I only read the books I love. I read when I want to read them, and I think when I want to think. This is my method of reading books. I myself think my method of reading is OK, but my method may not work for others.

6. Munger: I think different people have different ways of learning. For example, I am a person who was born to learn by reading. If someone talks to me, they tell me something I don't want to know or that I already know. For me, they're either walking too fast or too slow.

Reading, on the other hand, allows me to learn what I want at an effective speed, so for me, reading is my nature.

For all people like me, I welcome everyone to do this, and it's a great approach.

3. Duan Yongping

Duan Yongping: When it comes to how to invest, I think the most important book is Buffett's letter to shareholders, followed by Buffett's usual remarks.

If you really understand it, you can get started. If anyone thinks Buffett is out of date, they should be careful when investing; otherwise, they will soon be themselves out of date.

Lao Ba said everything that should be said. It doesn't matter what anyone else says; whether you can understand it depends entirely on your own understanding and ingenuity. (2010-02-09)

Duan Yongping: The only book I've read is Buffett's Letter to Shareholders. I don't think I've finished reading it yet. In theory, it's all the same; if you understand it, that's fine. I've gone through some of the other books. I think if you can understand Buffett, it doesn't matter if you don't read other books; if you don't understand Buffett, it doesn't matter if you don't read other books. (2010-02-11)

Duan Yongping: A good book is enough; there's no harm in reading more when you have time. Actually, Munger's stuff is very interesting. It's a bit different from Lao Ba's language style, but the stuff isn't fundamentally different. It was fun to watch when I had time. (2010-05-05)

Duan Yongping: Reading recommendations, in no particular order: Buffett's letter to shareholders, Buffett's famous quotes, evergreen career, Welch's autobiography. If you have time, you can also read: Charlie's Collection, Poor Dad, Rich Dad. (2010-07-08)

Duan Yongping: Actually, I've seen quite a few things, but it doesn't have to be about investment. There are very few books on investment. The main thing is that people who can invest are generally too lazy to write books. Even Lao Ba doesn't write books, and there are few good books on the market, so you can just flip through most of them. I've bought quite a few Chinese books on my iPad during this time, and now I'm reading the complete collection of Liang Yu Sheng. (2011-11-10)

Duan Yongping: That depends on what you want to do. There are very few books needed to invest, and those who can invest generally don't write books. I personally think it's easy to learn when you read a good book over and over again. However, I did meet some amazing people. They can read a lot of books and read them quickly, and they can remember everything they've read. (2012-03-27)

Duan Yongping: If you like to read, study a lot actually has nothing to do with investing or not; what Munger said on this point may not suit everyone. (2016-09-27)

Duan Yongping: Everything is divided into two aspects: doing the right thing and doing the right thing. The same goes for reading books. As far as investment is concerned, the book basically talks about investment techniques, that is, how to do things right. These things are hard to learn by reading, but if you have time to read, they may be inspiring. (2016-09-29)

Duan Yongping: Investing is really easy. In a nutshell: buying stocks means buying a company. But understanding a company is not something you can write in one book, so investing is really difficult to write. (2024-06-12)

In fact, Duan Yongping's investment doesn't require reading many books; there is no contradiction with Buffett and Munger's statement that investing requires extensive reading.

Duan Yongping said that you don't need to read too many books to learn investment principles. Buffett and Munger said that to read a company, you need to read a lot of materials and do your best to read everything about the company, such as annual reports and public reports.

Editor/jayden