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The Most Important Thing

by Howard Marks · 2011

Howard Marks's investing book on risk, cycles, second-level thinking, and the discipline required for long-term capital allocation.

0 source-backed recs1 mention/citation signalNo paid placementBuy links disclosed

Author signal

Howard Marks · Investor and Oaktree co-founder

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Author signal

Some books matter because the author has done rare work in the real world. We show that separately from who recommended the book.

Howard MarksInvestor and Oaktree co-founder

Distressed-debt investor, Oaktree co-founder, and author of The Most Important Thing.

Documented mentions and citations

The Most Important Thing appears in 1 source-backed mention or citation signal, not direct recommendations.

Warren Buffett Chairman, Berkshire Hathaway

Documented citation Reference citation reference

Documented citation: When I see memos from Howard Marks in my mail, they're the first thing I open and read. I always learn something, and that goes double for his book.

Documented citation Documented citation reference Howard Marks (investor)

This source documents the book relationship, but the displayed text is a catalog summary rather than a verbatim quote.

Wikipedia · reference page · accessed 2026-06-20

The reference page quotes Buffett saying he reads Marks's memos first and learns from them, adding that the same goes double for Marks's book.

Open source

Documented citation · Reference citation · reference Source reference page

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