[Ads-l] Request Charlie Munger quotation in 1989 Annual Report of Wesco

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Here are details that will appear in the QI article which is scheduled
for Aug 25th.
Stephen Goranson and Jesse Sheidlower are acknowledged. Thanks again.

Charlie Munger was the Chairman of the Board of the Wesco Financial
Corporation, and the company's annual reports often included letters
from Munger. The 1989 annual report was released in 1990, and it
contained a letter from Munger dated March 5, 1990:

[ref] 1990, Wesco Financial Corporation Annual Report 1989, Letter to
Wesco stockholders from the Chairman of the Company Charles T. Munger,
Date of Letter: March 5, 1990, Start Page 54, Quote Page 69, Published
by Wesco Financial Corporation, Pasadena, California. (Verified with
scans) [/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
Wesco continues to try more to profit from always remembering the
obvious than from grasping the esoteric. It is remarkable how much
long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be
consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent.
There must be some wisdom in the folk saying: "It's the strong
swimmers who drown". Our approach, while it has worked fairly well on
average in the past and will probably work fairly well over the
long-term future, is bound to encounter periods of dullness and
disadvantage as it limits action.
[End excerpt]

This link does not work yet. It should work on Aug 25th.
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2025/08/21/not-stupid/

Garson

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