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原文标题：
Schumpeter
Charlie Munger was a lot more than Warren Buffett’s sidekick
In business, he was a paragon of common sense
熊彼特专栏
查理·芒格不只是沃伦·巴菲特的搭档
在商业领域，他是常识的优秀典范
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EVERY MAY tens of thousands of the faithful flock to Omaha, Nebraska, hometown of Berkshire Hathaway, to bask in the presence of the investment firm’s two leaders: Warren Buffett, known for his folksy genius, and Charlie Munger, for his killer zingers.
每年5月，成千上万的信徒涌向内布拉斯加州奥马哈市，这里是伯克希尔哈撒韦公司的故乡。他们趋之若鹜，目的是亲眼见证这家投资公司的两位领导人：一个是以朴素智慧著称的沃伦·巴菲特，另一个是以犀利幽默闻名的查理·芒格。
At the Pasadena Convention Centre, Mr Munger alone would hold forth, his dry wit in full flow.
在帕萨迪纳会议中心，芒格独自一人畅所欲言，他的幽默风趣溢于言表。
Recording devices were not allowed, but notetakers scribbled furiously as they tried to keep up.
期间不允许录音设备，但大家都在疯狂做笔记，努力跟上节奏。
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The last one took place in 2011, when Mr Munger, who died in an LA hospital on November 28th aged 99, was a sprightly 87-year-old.
最后一次帕萨迪纳会议于2011年举行，当时他87岁，精神矍铄。芒格先生于11月28日在洛杉矶一家医院去世，享年99岁。
It was his last shareholder meeting as head of Wesco, a financial conglomerate about to be wholly swallowed up by Berkshire, and hence the end of his one-man show.
那是他作为Wesco（一家被伯克希尔全资收购的金融集团）掌门人的最后一次股东大会，也是他独角戏的收官之作。
He spoke for three hours. As usual, he poked gentle fun at the audience, telling them, “You folks need to find a new cult hero.”
他讲了3个小时。像往常一样，他温和地调侃观众，告诉他们，“你们需要找个新的崇拜目标了。”
Yet he clearly enjoyed delivering what one scribe called his sermon from the “Church of Rationality”. He beamed when they gave him a standing ovation.
不过，他显然很享受被大家称为 '理性教会 '的布道。当大家起立鼓掌时，他笑容满面。
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Looking back through notes of that meeting, the themes he dwelt on seem random.
回顾那次会议的笔记，他谈到的主题似乎很随意。
He discussed what he felt was his inadequate legacy, though he took pride in attributes such as basic morality, self-discipline and objectivity.
他讨论了自己认为不足的遗产，尽管他对基本道德、自律和客观性等品质感到自豪。
He advised rich parents how to look after their children (don’t try to motivate them with artificial hardships, he said, because they will inevitably hate you for it).
他给富人家长提供育儿建议（他说，不要试图用人为的困难来激励他们，因为他们必然会因此而憎恨你）。
He discussed the importance of being rational amid mistaken biases (which he called the “Lollapalooza effect”).
他讨论了在错误偏见中保持理性的重要性（他称之为“合奏效应”）。
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And yet those were not scattershot musings.
然而，这些并不是杂乱无章的胡思乱想。
They echoed a carefully thought out worldview on life, investment and business culture that he expounded on extensively in writings and speaking engagements whenever he was not in the spotlight as the Sage of Omaha’s curmudgeonly sidekick.
只要不是作为奥马哈圣人巴菲特的怪脾气搭档出现在聚光灯下，他都会在著作和演讲中广泛阐述自己对生活、投资和商业文化的世界观。
As Mr Buffett put it, Mr Munger influenced Berkshire’s entire investment philosophy by introducing the wisdom that it is “better to buy a good business at a fair price than a fair business at a good price”.
正如巴菲特所说，芒格影响了伯克希尔公司的整个投资理念，他提出了 '以合理的价格购买一个好的企业，而不是以好的价格购买一个合理的企业 '的智慧。
In other words, he deserves a big share of the credit for turning the financial conglomerate into the $780bn powerhouse that it has become.
换句话说，伯克希尔之所以能成为价值 7800 亿美元的金融巨头，芒格功不可没。
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Though the two men bore an uncanny physical resemblance (Mr Munger, at least later in life, was more portly), intellectually they had different strengths.
虽然两人在外貌上有着惊人的相似之处（晚年芒格的身材更魁梧），但他们在智力上却有着不同的优势。
Mr Buffett is a master of the plain and simple; Mr Munger was a complex thinker (“Charlie does the talking, I just move my lips,” Mr Buffett once quipped).
巴菲特是一位简洁大师；而芒格则是一位复杂的思想家（巴菲特曾经打趣道：“查理负责说话，我只是动动嘴皮子”）。
Their strengths complemented each other, producing something almost magical.
他们的优势互补，产生了近乎神奇的效果。
In the case of Messrs Buffett and Munger the magic lasted for 60 years. During that time they famously never had a row.
对巴菲特和芒格来说，这种神奇的魔力持续了 60 年。在此期间，他们从未发生过争吵。
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As with many successful partnerships, they shared common roots.
与许多成功的搭档关系一样，他们有着共同的起点。
They met in Omaha in 1959, not long after Mr Buffett, then owner of a fledgling investment firm, had been told by a potential client that he resembled the erudite Mr Munger, who was six years his senior.
1959 年，他们在奥马哈相识，当时巴菲特是一家刚起步的投资公司的老板，一位潜在客户告诉他，他与博学的芒格有许多相似之处，芒格比巴菲特大6岁。
He came to replace Benjamin Graham, a legendary “value“ investor, as Mr Buffett’s sounding board, with four qualities resembled Graham’s.
芒格取代了传奇的“价值”投资者本杰明·格雷厄姆，成为巴菲特的参谋，他具有与格雷厄姆相似的4种品质。
He was honest, realistic, profoundly curious and unfettered by conventional thinking. Those are as good traits as any to summarise his approach to business.
他诚实、务实，充满好奇心，不受传统思维的束缚。用这些特质来概括他的经商之道再合适不过了。
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In terms of honesty, he put the trustworthiness of business leaders, and the soundness of their accounts, above all else.
在诚实方面，他把企业领导人的可信度和账目的健全性放在首位。
He hated gimmickry (the accounting term EBITDA, he said, should be substituted with “bullshit earnings”).
他讨厌噱头（他说，会计术语 EBITDA 应该用“垃圾收益”来代替）。
He was openly scornful of the “megalomania” of some investment bankers, whom he blamed for the financial crisis of 2007-09.
他公开蔑视一些投资银行家的“狂妄自大”，并指责是他们导致了2007-2009年的金融危机。
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As for realism, he was no softy when it came to business.
说到务实，他在商业方面并不手软。
He believed in “moats” that safeguarded firms’ brand value, pricing power and scale.
他相信“护城河”可以保护公司的品牌价值、定价能力和规模。
Handle new technologies with care, he preached. Know your “circle of competence”. Don’t rush into new ventures you don’t understand.
他倡导谨慎对待新技术。了解你的“能力圈”。不要冒然涉足自己不了解的新事业。
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For him, curiosity was a lifelong project, and he believed that business people should constantly refresh their knowledge, challenging their assumptions and learning from mistakes more than successes.
对他来说，好奇心是一个终生项目，他认为商界人士应该不断刷新自己的知识，质疑自己的假设，从错误中学习，而不是从成功中学习。
As he said on the first page of “Poor Charlie’s Almanack”, a compilation of his writings and speeches: “Acquire worldly wisdom and adjust your behaviour accordingly. If your new behaviour gives you a little temporary unpopularity with your peer group…then to hell with them.”
正如他在自己的著作和演讲汇编《穷查理宝典》的第一页上写道：“获得世俗的智慧，并相应地调整你的行为。如果你的新行为让你在同侪群体中暂时不受欢迎……那就让他们见鬼去吧。”
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Invert, always invert
颠倒，总是颠倒
Finally, think unconventionally. Don’t follow the herd.
最后，以非传统的方式思考。不要随波逐流。
He loved Confucius and boldly encouraged America to “get along with China” . Apple, he said, was an example of how engaging with China was both good for business and good for China.
他喜欢孔子，并大胆地鼓励美国“与中国友好相处”。他说，苹果公司就是一个例子，说明与中国合作对于企业和中国都有好处。
Everything that worked in the opposite direction, he said earlier this year, was “stupid, stupid, stupid”.
他今年年初时说，一切反其道而行之的举动都是“愚蠢、愚蠢、愚蠢”。
Even by Mr Munger’s standards, that was blunt; he normally expressed himself with humour, not exasperation. But it summed up what was probably his greatest contribution to business thinking.
即使以芒格先生的标准来看，这句话也太直白了；他通常以幽默而不是愤懑的方式来表达自己的观点。但这句话却概括了他对商业思维的最大贡献。
He was a paragon of that old-style virtue—common sense.
他是传统美德——常识的优秀典范。
（恭喜读完，本篇英语词汇量993左右）
原文出自：2023年12月2日《The Economist》Business版
精读笔记来源于：自由英语之路 本文翻译整理: Irene 本文编辑校对: Irene
仅供个人英语学习交流使用。
【补充资料】（来自于网络）
查理·芒格（Charlie Thomas Munger，1924年1月1日—2023年11月28日），美国投资家，出生于美国内布拉斯加州的奥马哈。沃伦·巴菲特的黄金搭档，有“幕后智囊”和“最后的秘密武器”之称，伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司副主席，曾担任蓝筹印花公司的主席。17岁时，芒格曾进入密歇根大学学习数学；1948年以优异的成绩毕业于哈佛大学法学院，并直接进入加州法院当了一名律师；1972年，芒格说服巴菲特同意伯克希尔以2500万美元收购See's Candies；1978年正式担任伯克夏·哈撒韦公司的董事会副主席；1984年至2011年，查理·芒格担任Wesco Financial的董事长兼首席执行官；2022年5月，据路透社报道，芒格获得连任伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司的副主席；2023年10月29日，芒格进行了播客首秀。当地时间2023年11月28日，查理·芒格在加州的一家医院中安详去世，享年99岁。
Lollapalooza effect“协同效应”，也翻译成“合奏效应”，因为音乐节上不同的乐队、音乐类型和表演方式相互叠加，创造了一个令人兴奋但也容易引起混乱的体验。类似地，不同的认知偏见在决策过程中的叠加也能产生类似的效果。也翻译成“好上加好效应”或“核爆效应”。芒格也给出了自己的定义：多种因素之间相互强化并极大地放大彼此效应的情况，称为lollapalooza效应。简单的说就是：两个、三个，四个……多个作用于同一方向的力量汇聚在一起后，所形成的力量不是简单的力量叠加，而是一种巨大的、协同的放大效应。或者说，是多个动向因素的叠加，导致了一个算法从加法变成乘法的跳跃。
税息折旧及摊销前利润，简称EBITDA，是Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization的缩写，即未计利息、税项、折旧及摊销前的利润。EBITDA被私人资本公司广泛使用，用以计算公司经营业绩。
Poor Charlie’s Almanack《穷查理宝典：查理·芒格的智慧箴言录》首次收录了查理过去20年来主要的公开演讲，书中十一篇讲稿全面展现了这个传奇人物的聪明才智。此外，“芒格主义：查理的即席谈话”一章收录的是他以往在伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司和西科金融公司年会上犀利和幽默的评论。贯穿《穷查理宝典》全书的是芒格展示出来的聪慧、机智，其令人敬服的价值观和深不可测的修辞天赋。他拥有百科全书式的知识，所以从古代的雄辩家，到18、19世纪的欧洲文豪，再到当代的流行文化偶像，这些人的名言他都能信手拈来，并用这些来强调终身学习和保持求知欲望的好处。
【重点句子】（3个）
He discussed what he felt was his inadequate legacy, though he took pride in attributes such as basic morality, self-discipline and objectivity.
他讨论了自己认为不足的遗产，尽管他对基本道德、自律和客观性等品质感到自豪。
He was honest, realistic, profoundly curious and unfettered by conventional thinking. Those are as good traits as any to summarise his approach to business.
他诚实、务实，充满好奇心，不受传统思维的束缚。用这些特质来概括他的经商之道再合适不过了。
Handle new technologies with care, he preached. Know your “circle of competence”. Don’t rush into new ventures you don’t understand.
他倡导谨慎对待新技术。了解你的“能力圈”。不要冒险涉足自己不了解的新事业。  自由英语之路 |
