If you have nothing to say….

This blog will never be one of the more prolific or popular blogs for a host of reasons, and often weeks may pass between posts.  Anyways, this Twain quote resonated with me, as did a lot of the quotes below from the very good book Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger by Bevelin.

(Also included is that Munger quote in bold that I was looking for a few weeks ago.)

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“If you have nothing to say, say nothing” – Mark Twain

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“Around here I would say that if our predictions have been a little better than other peoples, its because we’ve tried to make fewer of them”

“You can’t avoid wrong decisions.  But if you recognize them promptly and do something about them, you can frequently turn the lemon into lemonade.”

“We have a passion for keeping things simple”

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

“Mark Twain used to say “A mine is a hole in the ground with a liar on the top.”  And a projection prepared by anybody who stands to earn a commission or an executive trying to justify a particular course of action will frequently be a lie – although its not a deliberate lie in most cases.  The man has come to believe it himself.  And that’s the worst kind.  Projections should be handled with care – particularly when they’re being provided by someone who has an interest in misleading you.”  –  Charlie Munger

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“If you desire a ride to Baghdad, here is a magic carpet; if you desire your enemy dead, here is a magic doll; if you desire unlimited riches, here is a forecast of interest rates.”  – Donald McCloskey

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“Techniques shrouded in mystery clearly have value to the purveyor of investment advice.  After all, which witch doctor has ever achieved fame and fortune by simply advising, “Take two aspirins”?”  – Warren Buffett

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“There is nothing wrong with changing a plan when the situation has changed”  Seneca

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“A man should never be ashamed to own that he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday”  – Jonathan Swift

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“The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken”  Samuel Johnson

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“Why oh why are human beings so hard to teach, but so easy to deceive?” – Chrysostom

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“Be warned that if you wish, as I do, to build a society in which individuals cooperate generously and unselfishly towards a common good, you can expect little help from biological nature.  Let us try to teach generosity and altruism, because we are born selfish” – Richard Dawkins

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“A man who has committed a mistake, and doesn’t correct it, is committing another mistake.” – Confucius