Charlie Munger's USC Law School Commencement Address Opening. | USC Law School 2007【C:C.M Ep.158】

[Transcript]

(Applause)

CHARLIE MUNGER: Well, no doubt many of you are wondering why the speaker is so old. Well, the answer is obviously he hasn’t died yet. (Laughter)

And why was the speaker chosen? Well, I don’t know that either. I like to think that the development department had nothing to do with it.

Whatever the reason I think it’s very fitting that I'm sitting here because I see one crowd of faces in the rear not wearing robes, and I know, from having educated an army of descendants, who really deserves a lot of the honors that are being given are the people here upfront. The sacrifice and the wisdom and the value transfer that comes from one generation to the next can never be underrated.

And that gives me enormous pleasure as I look at this sea of Asian faces to my left. All my life I’ve admired Confucius. I like the idea of filial piety, the idea that there are values that are taught and duties that come naturally and all that should be passed on to the next generation.

And you people who don’t think there’s anything in this idea, please note how fast these Asian faces are rising in American life. I think they have something.

All right the – I scratched out a few notes and I’m going to try and just give an account of some ideas and attitudes that have worked well for me. I don’t claim that they are perfect for everybody. Although I think many of them are pretty close to universal values and many of them are can’t fail ideas.

(Source: https://youtu.be/jY1eNlL6NKs)

[YAPSS Takeaway]

The sacrifice and the wisdom and the value transfer that comes from one generation to the next can never be underrated. ~Charlie Munger