Trying to be consistently not stupid instead of trying to be very intelligent.

In a letter to Wesco Financial shareholders dated March 5, 1990 (included in Wesco’s 1989 annual report), Munger explained that Wesco’s edge came less from clever, complex ideas and more from sticking to obvious principles and avoiding major mistakes over time.

The line argues that durable success is more about steady error-avoidance and discipline than about occasional flashes of brilliance. By minimizing preventable blunders, an investor can compound results over the long run without needing extraordinary insight.

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.