Charlie Munger died on Nov. 28 at age 99. These reflections on his life and career, which he wrote for CNBC Make It, are among his final writings.
查理·芒格于11月28日逝世，享年99岁。这些关于其人生与事业的思考由他为 CNBC Make It 撰写，属于他最后的文字之一。
One’s journey to career satisfaction is not always linear. After graduating from Harvard Law School, I joined a well-regarded firm in California. I built a home and a family, and I worked hard for years.
追求职业满足的道路并不总是直线前行。哈佛法学院毕业后，我加入了加州一家颇负盛名的律所。我组建了家庭，购置了房子，多年辛勤工作。
Even so, I wanted to earn more than what a senior law partner could expect. I started investing in stocks, businesses and property development before starting a law firm with some of my colleagues.
尽管如此，我仍渴望获得超出资深合伙人预期的收入。我开始投资股票、企业与地产开发，随后与几位同事一起创办了律所。
I spent many successful years at the firm, but I wasn’t satisfied practicing law. I liked the independence of a capitalist. I liked figuring things out and making bets. I preferred making the decisions and gambling my own money. I usually thought I knew better than the client anyway, so why should I have to do it his way?
我在律所度过了许多成功的岁月，但对执业律师并不满足。我喜欢资本家的独立性，喜欢研究问题、下注决策，更倾向于用自己的钱做决定和赌博。我常认为自己比客户更懂行，那为何非得按照他的方式行事？
One evening, at a dinner party in Omaha, I was introduced to a fellow named Warren Buffett. Warren and I shared many ideas when it came to business, finance, history and investing. He persuaded me to quit the law firm at the earliest point I could afford to do so. We eventually agreed to go into business together, which turned out to be an incredibly good decision.
某晚在奥马哈的晚宴上，我被介绍给一位名叫沃伦·巴菲特的人。在商业、金融、历史与投资方面，我们有很多共识。他说服我在经济条件允许时尽早离开律所。最终我们决定合作经商，事实证明这是无比正确的决定。
I have three basic rules for career satisfaction that have always helped me, and I believe they can help any young person evaluating a career decision. While meeting all three is nearly impossible, you should try anyway.
我有三条一直帮助我的职业满足基本准则，我相信它们也能帮助任何正在评估职业选择的年轻人。虽几乎不可能同时满足全部，但你仍应努力尝试。
1. Don’t sell anything you wouldn’t buy yourself.
不要出售你自己都不会买的东西。
The safest way to try to get what you want is to try to deserve what you want. It’s such a simple idea. It’s the golden rule. You want to deliver to the world what you would buy if you were on the other end.
获得想要之物最安全的方法，就是努力配得上它。这个理念再简单不过——金科玉律。你应向世界提供若换作自己也愿购买的产品或服务。
There is no ethos, in my opinion, that is better for any person to have. By and large, the people who have had this ethos win in life, and they don’t win just money and honors — they win the respect and the deserved trust of the people they deal with.
在我看来，没有比这更好的处世信条。总体而言，秉持此信条的人会在人生中取胜，他们获得的不仅是金钱和荣誉，更赢得了交往对象的尊重与应得的信任。
Plus, there is huge pleasure in life to be obtained from getting deserved trust. Reputation and integrity are your most valuable assets — and can be lost in a heartbeat.
此外，获得应得信任本身就能带来巨大的生活乐趣。声誉与诚信是你最宝贵的资产，却可在瞬间失去。
2. Don’t work for anyone you don’t respect and admire.
不要为你不尊敬、不钦佩的人工作。
You particularly want to avoid working directly under somebody you don’t admire and don’t want to be like. It’s dangerous. We’re all subject to control to some extent by authority figures, particularly authority figures who are rewarding us. Dealing properly with this danger requires both some talent and will.
尤其要避免直接受你不欣赏、也不想效仿的上司领导。这很危险。权威人物，特别是能奖励我们的权威，会在一定程度上左右我们。妥善应对这种危险既需要才能，也需要意志。
I coped in my time by identifying people I admired and by maneuvering, mostly without criticizing anybody, so that I was usually working under the right sort of people. A lot of employers will permit that if you’re shrewd enough to work it out with some tact.
当年我通过识别敬仰之人并巧妙周旋——大多无需批评任何人——来确保自己通常在合适的人手下工作。若你足够机敏、懂得策略，很多雇主都会允许这种安排。
Generally, your outcome in life will be more satisfactory if you work under people whom you correctly admire.
总体而言，若你在真正敬仰的人手下工作，人生结果会更令人满意。
3. Work only with people you enjoy.
只与让你感到愉悦的人共事。
I’ve found that intense interest in any subject is indispensable if you’re really going to excel. I could force myself to be fairly good in a lot of things, but I couldn’t excel in anything in which I didn’t have an intense interest or enjoy.
我发现若想真正卓越，对任何领域都必须拥有强烈兴趣。我可以逼自己在许多事情上表现尚可，但若对其缺乏浓厚兴趣或乐趣，就无法做到出类拔萃。
If at all feasible, you want to maneuver yourself into doing something in which you have an intense interest alongside people whose company you enjoy.
若有可能，应设法让自己在浓厚兴趣所在的事务中，与喜欢相处的人一同工作。
Another thing you have to do is have a lot of assiduity. I like that word because to me it means: “Sit down on your ass until you do it.” I’ve had marvelous partners, full of assiduity, all my life. I think I got them partly because I tried to deserve them, and partly because I was shrewd enough to select them, and partly because there was some luck.
你还必须拥有极大的勤勉。我喜欢“assiduity”这个词，对我而言它意味着：“屁股坐下去，直到事情做成。”我一生都有出色且勤勉的合作伙伴。我认为，这部分因为我努力配得上他们，部分因为我精明地挑选了他们，也有部分运气成分。
I have been incredibly fortunate in my life when it comes to these basic rules. With Warren Buffett, I had all three.
在这些基本准则上，我此生幸运无比。与沃伦·巴菲特合作，我三条都满足了。
Charlie Munger was Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, and Warren Buffett’s closest business partner and right-hand man. As a legendary and pragmatic investor and active philanthropist, Munger was a Harvard Law graduate and was known for his wide-ranging wisdom across a multitude of disciplines — including psychology, economics, biology, history and physics. Munger served as a director of Costco Wholesale Corporation and as chairman of the Daily Journal Corporation. An abridged version of his book, ”Poor Charlie’s Almanack,” is being released by Stripe Press on December 5, 2024.
查理·芒格曾任伯克希尔哈撒韦公司副董事长，是沃伦·巴菲特最亲密的商业伙伴和得力助手。作为传奇而务实的投资者与积极的慈善家，芒格毕业于哈佛法学院，以其横跨心理学、经济学、生物学、历史学和物理学等众多学科的广博智慧而闻名。芒格曾担任好市多批发公司董事，以及《每日新闻》公司的董事长。他的著作《穷查理宝典》删节版将由 Stripe Press 于2024年12月5日出版发行。