Morgan Housel
48 notes in the collection. Most of these are from collabfund.com (opens in a new tab)↗
First saved A Few Things I’m Pretty Sure About (2026) on September 6, 2026.
Housel argues that choosing what to ignore is the key attention skill: favor permanent knowledge over expiring news, remember stories, and listen to admired people who disagree.
Related
- One Big Web: A Few Ways the World WorksMorgan Housel
- The Dumber Side of Smart PeopleMorgan Housel
- Different Kinds of SmartMorgan Housel
- How to Read: Lots of Inputs and a Strong FilterMorgan Housel
Housel argues nostalgia comes from knowing how the story ends, which erases the uncertainty you felt at the time and makes past years, markets, and eras look easier than they were.
Related
- A Few Questions (2023)Morgan Housel
- A Few Questions (2025)Morgan Housel
- Beautiful vs. Practical AdviceMorgan Housel
- Makes You ThinkMorgan Housel
Housel argues the best strategy is the one that fits your personality, from talented bloggers who fizzled under media company style guides to investing and spending choices that suit you.
Related
- A Few Thoughts on Spending MoneyMorgan Housel
- How I Think About DebtMorgan Housel
- Long-Term MoneyMorgan Housel
- My New Book: The Art of Spending MoneyMorgan Housel
Housel argues pessimism sounds smarter than optimism because short-term shocks are easier to recall and we underestimate how people adapt, as Jeremy Siegel's long horizon and the oil cycles show.
Related
- A Number From Today and A Story About TomorrowMorgan Housel
- Conflicting Skill SetsMorgan Housel
- How To Read Financial NewsMorgan Housel
- Information That Would Get Your AttentionMorgan Housel
Housel argues that some of the most valuable skills get little credit, like tolerating hassle you can't control and noticing how much wanting something shapes what you believe.
Related
- Lazy Work, Good WorkMorgan Housel
- Searching for outliersBen Kuhn
- I Have A Few QuestionsMorgan Housel
- Interview AdviceSlava Akhmechet
Housel on why bad behavior makes sense with more information, how housing affordability drives social problems, why people fear AI after the internet, and why politics runs in cycles.
Related
- A Few Things I’m Pretty Sure About (2023)Morgan Housel
- A Message From the Past (Thoughts on Nostalgia)Morgan Housel
- Psychological Paths of Least ResistanceMorgan Housel
- The Luckier You Are The Nicer You Should BeMorgan Housel
Housel's handful of ideas that shaped his thinking, including how tribes bend beliefs, why history repeats in behavior, why room for error is aggressive, and how personal experience skews your view.
Related
- Paying AttentionMorgan Housel
- A Message From the Past (Thoughts on Nostalgia)Morgan Housel
- One Big Web: A Few Ways the World WorksMorgan Housel
- The Dumber Side of Smart PeopleMorgan Housel
Housel's list of short rules on money, risk, and behavior, from keeping a gap between ego and income to fearing permanent damage far more than temporary harm.
Related
- Some Things I ThinkMorgan Housel
- Very Good Advice (flipped)Morgan Housel
- Very Bad AdviceMorgan Housel
- A Message From the Past (Thoughts on Nostalgia)Morgan Housel
Housel's one-line observations on wealth, luck, and human nature, such as measuring wealth as what you have minus what you want and the value of not needing to impress anyone.
Related
- Little Rules About Big ThingsMorgan Housel
- Very Good Advice (flipped)Morgan Housel
- Very Bad AdviceMorgan Housel
- A Message From the Past (Thoughts on Nostalgia)Morgan Housel
Morgan Housel's Very Bad Advice list rewritten as its positive version, on envy, status, independence, self-worth, and whose example to follow.
Related
- Little Rules About Big ThingsMorgan Housel
- Some Things I ThinkMorgan Housel
- Very Bad AdviceMorgan Housel
- A Message From the Past (Thoughts on Nostalgia)Morgan Housel
- NewCompounding Optimism 5 min
Housel argues progress is easy to underestimate because it comes from small ideas recombining and compounding over generations, the way Edwin Land influenced Steve Jobs, rather than from lone geniuses.
Related
- When You Change the World and No One NoticesMorgan Housel
- The typical path of how people respond to life-changing inventionsChris Dixon
- I Have A Few QuestionsMorgan Housel
- Technology predictionsSam Altman
Housel argues that the best way to learn how the world works is to see how connected every field is, since the big lessons from one domain often explain another.
Related
- Paying AttentionMorgan Housel
- The Dumber Side of Smart PeopleMorgan Housel
- Different Kinds of SmartMorgan Housel
- How to Read: Lots of Inputs and a Strong FilterMorgan Housel
Housel lists the easy mental shortcuts people take instead of hard thinking, like killing uncertainty fast, blaming complex events on one cause, judging others but excusing yourself, and trusting stories over statistics.
Related
- A Few Short StoriesMorgan Housel
- A Few Things I’m Pretty Sure About (2026)Morgan Housel
- A Few Things I’m Pretty Sure About (2023)Morgan Housel
- I Have A Few QuestionsMorgan Housel
Housel argues that high intelligence can backfire, since smart people build elaborate stories to explain randomness, dismiss less-credentialed voices, and cling to outdated ideas to protect their reputations.
Related
- Paying AttentionMorgan Housel
- One Big Web: A Few Ways the World WorksMorgan Housel
- Different Kinds of SmartMorgan Housel
- How to Read: Lots of Inputs and a Strong FilterMorgan Housel
Housel argues we blame bad times on risk but credit good times to ourselves, though luck is just risk in reverse, so the best guard against entitlement is to be nicer the better things go.
Related
- A Few Things I’m Pretty Sure About (2026)Morgan Housel
- A Few Things I’m Pretty Sure About (2023)Morgan Housel
- Sometimes the reason you can’t find people you resonate with is because you misread the ones you meetHenrik Karlsson
- Letter to JackChris Oakman
Housel's uncomfortable self-audit questions, such as whose admired life is secretly miserable, which beliefs you hold only for tribal standing, and whether your ambition is really envy.
Related
- A Message From the Past (Thoughts on Nostalgia)Morgan Housel
- A Few Questions (2025)Morgan Housel
- Beautiful vs. Practical AdviceMorgan Housel
- Makes You ThinkMorgan Housel
Housel's 2025 set of self-audit questions, such as how you'd define a good life without comparison, whose approval you're auditioning for, and which principles you'd drop if they stopped earning praise.
Related
- A Message From the Past (Thoughts on Nostalgia)Morgan Housel
- A Few Questions (2023)Morgan Housel
- Beautiful vs. Practical AdviceMorgan Housel
- Makes You ThinkMorgan Housel
- NewA Few Short Stories 6 min
Housel collects short historical stories with lessons on behavior, from drivers ignoring seat belts for decades to Scots massing troops during the Black Death and Apollo astronauts finding the moon underwhelming.
Related
- Psychological Paths of Least ResistanceMorgan Housel
- A Few Things I’m Pretty Sure About (2026)Morgan Housel
- A Few Things I’m Pretty Sure About (2023)Morgan Housel
- I Have A Few QuestionsMorgan Housel
Housel's convictions on money and behavior, from not needing to impress anyone as the best financial asset to expectations inflation, endurance as the key to success, and how ego and impatience override intelligence.
Related
- A Few Things I’m Pretty Sure About (2026)Morgan Housel
- A Message From the Past (Thoughts on Nostalgia)Morgan Housel
- Psychological Paths of Least ResistanceMorgan Housel
- The Luckier You Are The Nicer You Should BeMorgan Housel
Housel argues money works best as a tool for a better life rather than a status yardstick, and that how you spend reflects your history and often buys happiness only indirectly.
Related
- Do It Your WayMorgan Housel
- How I Think About DebtMorgan Housel
- Long-Term MoneyMorgan Housel
- My New Book: The Art of Spending MoneyMorgan Housel
Housel argues every forecast multiplies a hard number from today by a story about tomorrow, so data-driven predictions are mostly storytelling and always deserve room for error.
Related
- The Seduction of PessimismMorgan Housel
- Conflicting Skill SetsMorgan Housel
- How To Read Financial NewsMorgan Housel
- Information That Would Get Your AttentionMorgan Housel
Housel argues outlier success often pairs a science with an unrelated art, like Einstein's thought experiments, and that great investors are usually great writers because clear communication keeps investors loyal and thinking honest.
Related
- The Seduction of PessimismMorgan Housel
- A Number From Today and A Story About TomorrowMorgan Housel
- Conflicting Skill SetsMorgan Housel
- How To Read Financial NewsMorgan Housel
Housel compares much financial advice to magazine architects whose award-winning buildings leak, arguing that most people need simple, boring, practical plans rather than advice that sounds brilliant.
Related
- A Message From the Past (Thoughts on Nostalgia)Morgan Housel
- A Few Questions (2023)Morgan Housel
- A Few Questions (2025)Morgan Housel
- Makes You ThinkMorgan Housel
Housel lists pairs of opposing skills investing demands at once, like taking big risks to get rich but avoiding them to stay rich, or trusting your gut while doubting your biases.
Related
- The Seduction of PessimismMorgan Housel
- A Number From Today and A Story About TomorrowMorgan Housel
- How To Read Financial NewsMorgan Housel
- Information That Would Get Your AttentionMorgan Housel
Using the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management, Housel argues academic intelligence is only one kind of smart, and that reading across fields, paranoia about survival, storytelling, and humility matter as much.
Related
- Paying AttentionMorgan Housel
- One Big Web: A Few Ways the World WorksMorgan Housel
- The Dumber Side of Smart PeopleMorgan Housel
- How to Read: Lots of Inputs and a Strong FilterMorgan Housel
- NewFive Lessons from History 15 min
Housel draws five broad lessons from history, including that hardship makes unthinkable views popular, unsustainable things last longer than expected, and progress moves too slowly to notice while setbacks hit fast.
Related
- Paying AttentionMorgan Housel
- The Seduction of PessimismMorgan Housel
- One Big Web: A Few Ways the World WorksMorgan Housel
- The Dumber Side of Smart PeopleMorgan Housel
Housel argues that more debt narrows the range of life's shocks you can survive, which is why Japan's centuries-old shinise businesses hold lots of cash and no debt, and why flexibility is worth protecting.
Related
- Do It Your WayMorgan Housel
- A Few Thoughts on Spending MoneyMorgan Housel
- Long-Term MoneyMorgan Housel
- My New Book: The Art of Spending MoneyMorgan Housel
Housel's filters for the flood of financial content: sort it by relevance, read respected people you disagree with, read beyond finance, use old news as a guide, and remember writers may play a different game than you.
Related
- The Seduction of PessimismMorgan Housel
- A Number From Today and A Story About TomorrowMorgan Housel
- Conflicting Skill SetsMorgan Housel
- Information That Would Get Your AttentionMorgan Housel
Taking a cue from Munger, Housel argues you should start any book that interests you but quit ruthlessly once it stops working, since most books aren't worth finishing and a few can change your life.
Related
- Paying AttentionMorgan Housel
- One Big Web: A Few Ways the World WorksMorgan Housel
- The Dumber Side of Smart PeopleMorgan Housel
- Different Kinds of SmartMorgan Housel
Morgan Housel's list of questions for testing your own beliefs, from what you desperately want to be true to which views would change if your incentives did.
Related
- Paying AttentionMorgan Housel
- A Message From the Past (Thoughts on Nostalgia)Morgan Housel
- The Seduction of PessimismMorgan Housel
- Useful and Overlooked SkillsMorgan Housel
Housel argues that imagining impossible information, like the exact role of luck in success, is useful because it forces you to think about what matters but is easy to ignore.
Related
- The Seduction of PessimismMorgan Housel
- A Number From Today and A Story About TomorrowMorgan Housel
- Conflicting Skill SetsMorgan Housel
- How To Read Financial NewsMorgan Housel
- NewLazy Work, Good Work 4 min
Housel argues knowledge work often looks lazy because good decisions need quiet thinking time, as Rockefeller, Einstein, and Bill Gates's Think Weeks show, so judge workers by outcomes rather than visible effort.
Related
- Useful and Overlooked SkillsMorgan Housel
- Searching for outliersBen Kuhn
- I Have A Few QuestionsMorgan Housel
- Interview AdviceSlava Akhmechet
- NewLong-Term Money 4 min
Housel argues that kids looking spoiled by past standards is often the point of their parents' hard work, since each generation's easier life just frees it to worry about higher-order problems.
Related
- Do It Your WayMorgan Housel
- A Few Thoughts on Spending MoneyMorgan Housel
- How I Think About DebtMorgan Housel
- My New Book: The Art of Spending MoneyMorgan Housel
- NewLucky vs. Repeatable 3 min
Housel suggests asking what isn't repeatable instead of who got lucky, so you copy the transferable skills of people like Bezos and Buffett and skip the conditions that will never recur.
Related
- The Seduction of PessimismMorgan Housel
- A Number From Today and A Story About TomorrowMorgan Housel
- Conflicting Skill SetsMorgan Housel
- How To Read Financial NewsMorgan Housel
- NewMakes You Think 3 min
Housel collects lines on history, risk, and wisdom, from Sebastian Junger on people needing to feel necessary to Amos Tversky on staying a little underemployed to do good research.
Related
- A Message From the Past (Thoughts on Nostalgia)Morgan Housel
- A Few Questions (2023)Morgan Housel
- A Few Questions (2025)Morgan Housel
- Beautiful vs. Practical AdviceMorgan Housel
Housel introduces The Art of Spending Money and its core ideas: money works best as a tool rather than a status yardstick, buys happiness only indirectly, and is spent best by those who stop thinking about it.
Related
- Do It Your WayMorgan Housel
- A Few Thoughts on Spending MoneyMorgan Housel
- How I Think About DebtMorgan Housel
- Long-Term MoneyMorgan Housel
- NewPure Independence 10 min
Housel argues independence, financial but also intellectual and moral, is one of life's highest goals, starting from his shy son's pride at buying ice cream alone and why doing things on your own terms feels so good.
Related
- Do It Your WayMorgan Housel
- A Few Thoughts on Spending MoneyMorgan Housel
- How I Think About DebtMorgan Housel
- Long-Term MoneyMorgan Housel
Housel collects lines on wealth, happiness, and self-deception, from Ernest Dimnet on small destructive habits to Will Durant calling insecurity the mother of greed.
Related
- A Message From the Past (Thoughts on Nostalgia)Morgan Housel
- A Few Questions (2023)Morgan Housel
- A Few Questions (2025)Morgan Housel
- Beautiful vs. Practical AdviceMorgan Housel
Housel collects lines on judgment, humility, and happiness, from Albert Lasker's humility in the presence of a good idea to Jensen Huang on how high expectations destroy resilience.
Related
- A Message From the Past (Thoughts on Nostalgia)Morgan Housel
- A Few Questions (2023)Morgan Housel
- A Few Questions (2025)Morgan Housel
- Beautiful vs. Practical AdviceMorgan Housel
Housel argues success depends on surviving long losing streaks, as Ed Thorp's 2% blackjack edge still meant losing half his hands, which is why real optimism and a margin of safety matter more than the edge itself.
Related
- The Seduction of PessimismMorgan Housel
- A Number From Today and A Story About TomorrowMorgan Housel
- Conflicting Skill SetsMorgan Housel
- How To Read Financial NewsMorgan Housel
Housel argues that huge outcomes grow from small early bases, showing that about 97% of Buffett's fortune traces to the capital he built as a teenager, just as ice ages start from one summer's leftover snow.
Related
- Do It Your WayMorgan Housel
- A Few Thoughts on Spending MoneyMorgan Housel
- How I Think About DebtMorgan Housel
- Long-Term MoneyMorgan Housel
Housel argues long-term success depends on managing the short run well enough to survive it, from kids distracting themselves in the marshmallow test to Bill Gates keeping a year of payroll in the bank.
Related
- The Seduction of PessimismMorgan Housel
- A Number From Today and A Story About TomorrowMorgan Housel
- Conflicting Skill SetsMorgan Housel
- How To Read Financial NewsMorgan Housel
Housel argues studying extreme cases teaches overly precise lessons that lead you to see rare patterns everywhere, as a 19th-century professor did diagnosing a rare disease his student had rightly ruled out.
Related
- The Seduction of PessimismMorgan Housel
- A Number From Today and A Story About TomorrowMorgan Housel
- Conflicting Skill SetsMorgan Housel
- How To Read Financial NewsMorgan Housel
- NewThe Written Word 2 min
Housel's rules for writing well: write what you like to read, use stories as leverage for ideas, aim for memorable sentences, and say the most in the fewest words without building up to your point.
Related
- An Art Leveraging A ScienceMorgan Housel
- How to think in writingHenrik Karlsson
- I Have A Few QuestionsMorgan Housel
- Semantic gapsSebastian Bensusan
- NewVery Bad Advice 2 min
Taking a cue from Munger's advice to avoid obvious disasters, Housel writes a list of very bad advice, such as letting expectations outgrow income and judging others at their worst and yourself at your best.
Related
- Little Rules About Big ThingsMorgan Housel
- Some Things I ThinkMorgan Housel
- Very Good Advice (flipped)Morgan Housel
- A Message From the Past (Thoughts on Nostalgia)Morgan Housel
Housel collects short historical stories about luck, uncertainty, and hidden effort, from Henry Ford turning Model T scrap wood into Kingsford charcoal to Chris Rock testing jokes in small clubs before a tour.
Related
- A Message From the Past (Thoughts on Nostalgia)Morgan Housel
- A Few Questions (2023)Morgan Housel
- A Few Questions (2025)Morgan Housel
- Beautiful vs. Practical AdviceMorgan Housel
Housel argues world-changing inventions are usually ignored for years, as the Wright brothers were by the New York Times until 1906, so innovators need patience to wait for the world to notice.
Related
- Compounding OptimismMorgan Housel
- The typical path of how people respond to life-changing inventionsChris Dixon
- I Have A Few QuestionsMorgan Housel
- Technology predictionsSam Altman
Smart ideas get copied fast, so lasting advantage comes from doing what others won't, starting with the ability to learn faster than the competition.
Related
- Paying AttentionMorgan Housel
- One Big Web: A Few Ways the World WorksMorgan Housel
- The Dumber Side of Smart PeopleMorgan Housel
- Different Kinds of SmartMorgan Housel
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