Charlie Munger was 31 years old when he lost almost everything.
His 9-year-old son died of cancer.
He stood by the hospital bed, watching his child leave while still calculating how to pay the medical bills.
His marriage fell apart, and he was deep in debt.
It wasn't a 'low point'; he was completely emptied out.
He had no epiphany, no declaration of rebirth.
He simply went back to work the next day.
As a lawyer.
Exchanging time for money.
Slowly, he realized: this path wouldn't take him away from pain.
He began to invest.
Small real estate, private deals, any method that could make capital work for him.
Others advised him not to take risks:
'You are a lawyer, not an investor.'
But he had already lost the most important thing.
Risk was no longer so frightening to him.
He understood one thing:
Comfort does not solve pain; ability does.
So he read.
Not just finance—
Physics, evolution, biology, psychology, history.
He didn't chase trends; he pursued principles.
He deconstructed the world into individual 'models'
to judge people, incentives, errors, and probabilities.
This way of thinking brought him before Warren Buffett.
At that dinner in Omaha,
Buffett was already a star investor.
Munger didn't think about 'proving himself.'
He simply changed Buffett's mind.
Buffett had originally been buying:
Cheap lousy companies.
Munger said:
Buy good companies, even if they're not cheap.
Quality is more important than discounts.
Time favors good businesses.
This shift created today's Berkshire.
Munger became Vice Chairman,
and he was the person behind decisions for decades.
He hates stupidity.
He is used to thinking in reverse.
He focuses on incentive structures to view the world.
Every day he reads about children saying he is a 'book with legs.'
At 99 years old, he is still learning.
He never retires because he knows:
Curiosity compounds.
He lost his marriage, money, and child.
It wasn't about 'overcoming' pain,
but rather letting pain push him to become more rigorous, more clear-headed, and more uncompromising.
Brothers, don't be discouraged; the universe is not settled, we are all dark horses!🤙🤙
