Is Your Desk Cluttered?

It's rare that I come across something that strikes me as both absolutely true, but generally under-appreciated. This quote by Charlie Munger (Warren Buffet's partner) is one of them:

I have said that in my whole life, I've known no wise person over a broad subject matter area who didn't read all the time--none, zero. Now I know all kinds of shrewd people who by staying within a narrow area can do very well without reading. But investment is a broad area. So if you think you're going to be good at it and not read all the time, you have a different idea than I do.... You'd be amazed at how much Warren [Buffet] reads. You'd be amazed at how much I read.

I can't think of a single person whose analytical expertise I admire, who doesn't read constantly. You can generally identify these people by the large stacks of as yet unread papers on their cluttered desks. Einstein summed it up nicely: "If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?"