It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.
Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing.
A very rich person should leave his kids enough to do anything but not enough to do nothing.
Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.
Wall Street is the only place that people ride to work in a Rolls Royce to get advice from those who take the subway.
Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.
I will tell you how to become rich. Close the doors. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful. Lecturing to a group of students at Columbia U. He was 21 years old.
One’s objective should be to get it right, get it quick, get it out, and get it over... your problem won’t improve with age.
Managers thinking about accounting issues should never forget one of Abraham Lincoln's favorite riddles: `How many legs does a dog have if you call his tail a leg?' The answer: `Four, because calling a tail a leg does not make it a leg'.
There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult.
A public-opinion poll is no substitute for thought.
It's only when the tide goes out that you learn who's been swimming naked.
If you don't know jewelry, know the jeweller.
The most important quality for an investor is temperament, not intellect... You need a temperament that neither derives great pleasure from being with the crowd or against the crowd.
It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.
Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No.2: Never forget rule No.1.
You ought to be able to explain why you’re taking the job you’re taking, why you’re making the investment you’re making, or whatever it may be. And if it can’t stand applying pencil to paper, you’d better think it through some more. And if you can’t write an intelligent answer to those questions, don’t do it.
The stock market is a no-called-strike game. You don't have to swing at everything--you can wait for your pitch. The problem when you're a money manager is that your fans keep yelling, 'Swing, you bum!'
Charlie and I decided long ago that in an investment lifetime it's too hard to make hundreds of smart decisions. That judgement became ever more compelling as Berkshire's capital mushroomed and the universe of investments that could significantly affect our results shrank dramatically. Therefore, we adopted a strategy that required our being smart - and not too smart at that - only a very few times. Indeed, we'll now settle for one good idea a year. (Charlie says it's my turn.)
I like to go for cinches. I like to shoot fish in a barrel. But I like to do it after the water has run out. October 2003 talking with Wharton MBA students.
One of the ironies of the stock market is the emphasis on activity. Brokers, using terms such as `marketability' and `liquidity," sing the praises of companies with high share turnover... but investors should understand that what is good for the croupier is not good for the customer. A hyperactive stock market is the pick pocket of enterprise.
The Stock Market is designed to transfer money from the Active to the Patient.
If you don't feel comfortable owning something for 10 years, then don't own it for 10 minutes.
Diversification is a protection against ignorance. It makes very little sense for those who know what they're doing.
Success in investing doesn't correlate with I.Q. once you're above the level of 25. Once you have ordinary intelligence, what you need is the temperament to control the urges that get other people into trouble in investing.
