Study the Dead

Benjamin Franklin has been dead for 234 years, but the lessons of his life still resonate with some of the smartest people on the planet. 

When asked if he could have lunch with anyone, living or dead, Warren Buffett said, “Isaac Newton is probably the smartest guy who ever walked this earth. It would just be fascinating for me to sit down with a person like that and talk with him.”

But Buffett paused, then added, “Newton was the smartest, but Franklin was the wisest.”

Buffett has modeled his life and his investment strategy around the principles of Franklin. Common sense played a huge part in Franklin’s life, as it does with Buffett. 

So how can someone who hasn’t produced any recent content in over twenty-three decades still be influential to one of the greatest investors of all time? Because wisdom is timeless. 

Buffett’s partner at Berkshire Hathaway, Charlie Munger, once said, “We need to study the dead.” Munger was a voracious reader, reading only business books, autobiographies, science books, or anything he can gleam valuable information. Munger once said: “In my whole life, I have known no wise people (over a broad subject matter area) who didn’t read all the time – none, zero.” Munger then adds, “But that’s not enough: You have to have a temperament to grab ideas and do sensible things. Most people don’t grab the right ideas or don’t know what to do with them.” This is where dear old Ben plays an important part. 

By studying the lives, thoughts and works of those who have passed, we can gain broader perspectives that exceed our personal experiences. We get to know these people as if they were our neighbors. We can borrow on their positive traits and learn from their failures. We learn to appreciate their struggles, we understand no one is an overnight sensation. Franklin’s 13 secrets to success read as if he were living today:

1. Don’t waste time

2. Get organized. Franklin believed to let all things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.

3. Don’t do harm to others. Wrong none by doing injuries or omitting the benefits that are your duty."

4. Don’t waste money on stupid things. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself, i.e., “waste nothing."

5. Don’t sweat the small stuff, or be disturbed at trifles or at accidents common or uncommon

6. Stay in shape, eat healthy and workout. Eat not to dullness, drink not to evaluation

7. Be direct with people. Use no hurtful deceit. Think innocently, and if you speak, speak accordingly. 

8. Don’t sit around and think what to do, do it. “Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve."

9. Don’t obsess. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve."

10. Be Humble, imitate Jesus and Socrates. 

Even though Ben has been gone for several lifetimes, his powerful wisdom resonates today. 

And as Munger once said “If it’s wisdom you are after, you are going to spend a lot of time sitting on your ass and reading.” 

Study the dead. 

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