Peter Bevelin

From Darwin to Munger, 3rd Edition

Seeking Wisdom

Peter Bevelin begins his fascinating book with Confucius' great wisdom: "A man who has committed a mistake and doesn't correct it, is committing another mistake." Seeking Wisdom is the result of Bevelin's learning about attaining wisdom. His quest for wisdom originated partly from making mistakes himself and observing those of others but also from the philosophy of super-investor and Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charles Munger. A man whose simplicity and clarity of thought was unequal to anything Bevelin had seen. In addition to naturalist Charles Darwin and Munger, Bevelin cites an encyclopedic range of thinkers: from first-century BCE Roman poet Publius Terentius to Mark Twain-from Albert Einstein to Richard Feynman-from 16th Century French essayist Michel de Montaigne to Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett. In the book, he describes ideas and research findings from many different fields. This book is for those who love the constant search for knowledge. It is in the spirit of Charles Munger, who says, "All I want to know is where I'm going to die so I'll never go there." There are roads that lead to unhappiness. An understanding of how and why we can "die" should help us avoid them. We can't eliminate mistakes, but we can prevent those that can really hurt us. Using exemplars of clear thinking and attained wisdom, Bevelin focuses on how our thoughts are influenced, why we make misjudgments and tools to improve our thinking. Bevelin tackles such eternal questions as: Why do we behave like we do? What do we want out of life? What interferes with our goals? Read and study this wonderful multidisciplinary exploration of wisdom. It may change the way you think and act in business and in life.

From Darwin to Munger

This book is about the fictitious Seeker, who has known a lot of misery, and his visit to the "Library of Wisdom" where he meets another fictitious character - the Librarian- along with Warren Buffett and Charles Munger. The Seeker learns how to make better decisions to help his children avoid doing the dumb things he has done. For instance, he learns from Buffett and Munger the best way to prevent trouble is to avoid it altogether by learning what works and what does not. They do so in the spirit of the anonymous man who said: "All I want to know is where I'm going to die so I'll never go there." Additionally, the book provides examples of pure folly and some lessons on how to make fewer dumb mistakes than other people. And then how to fix mistakes faster, should you make them. The major lesson is "ignorance removal" and the notion that decision-making is not about making brilliant decision, but avoiding terrible ones. This is not a book for those who like complexities or advanced math - rather it's for those who love efficiency, simplicity and common sense or judgment - hallmarks of Buffett and Munger. Like Einstein, both have a remarkable ability to eliminate folly and superficiality and get directly to the heart of things.

Buffett and Munger a Study in Simplicity and Uncommon, Common Sense

"All I Want to Know is where I'm Going to Die So I'll Never Go There"

Warren Buffett

From Warren E. Buffett

A Few Lessons for Investors and Managers

"Peter Bevelin has distilled Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes into bite-sized principles and key quotes." -- Cover, page [4].

Peter Bevelin

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