Warren Buffett Quotes

I won't close down a business of subnormal profitability merely to add a fraction of a point to our corporate returns. I also feel it inappropriate for even an exceptionally profitable company to fund an operation once it appears to have unending losses in prospect. Adam Smith would disagree with my first proposition and Karl Marx would disagree with my second; the middle ground is the only position that leaves me comfortable. ~ Warren Buffett

An investor should act as though he had a lifetime decision card with just twenty punches on it. ~ Warren Buffett

Of the billionaires I have known, money just brings out the basic traits in them. If they were jerks before they had money, they are simply jerks with a billion dollars. ~ Warren Buffett

When people talk about cash being king, it's not king if it just sits there and never does anything. There are times when cash buys more than other times, and this is one of the other times when it buys a fair amount more, so we use it. ~ Howard Warren Buffett

If you hit a hole in one every hole, you wouldn't play golf for very long. ~ Warren Buffett

The greater the potential for reward in the value portfolio, the less risk there is. ~ Warren Buffett

Success in investing doesn't correlate with I.Q. Once you are 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. ~ Warren Buffett

In one way, I'm sympathetic to the institutional reluctance to face the music. I'd give a lot to mark my weight to 'model' rather than to 'market.' ~ Warren Buffett

The best business returns are usually achieved by companies that are doing something quite similar today to what they were doing five or ten years ago. ~ Warren Buffett

You will be right, over the course of many transactions, if your hypotheses are correct, your facts are correct, and your reasoning is correct. True conservatism is only possible through knowledge and reason. ~ Warren Buffett

Writing checks to the IRS that include strings of zeros does not bother me ... Overall, we feel extraordinarily lucky to have been dealt a hand in life that enables us to write large checks to the government rather than one requiring the government to regularly write checks to us-say, because we are disabled or unemployed. ~ Warren Buffett

I've been associated with Warren ( Buffett) so long, I thought I'd be just a footnote. ~ Charlie Munger

What motivates most gold purchasers is their belief that the ranks of the fearful will grow ... As 'bandwagon' investors join any party, they create their own truth - for a while. ~ Warren Buffett

The bottom line is this: Cash, in modest increments, has a role in any portfolio. But unless you are Warren Buffett, you should limit it to 2 or 3 percent. ~ Barry Ritholtz

Investors, of course, can, by their own behavior make stock ownership highly risky. And many do. Active trading, attempts to "time" market movements, inadequate diversification, the payment of high and unnecessary fees to managers and advisors, and the use of borrowed money can destroy the decent returns that a life-long owner of equities would otherwise enjoy. Indeed, borrowed money has no place in the investor's tool kit. ~ Warren Buffett

Keep all your eggs in one basket, but watch that basket closely. ~ Warren Buffett

You should look at stocks as small pieces of business. ~ Warren Buffett

If you invested in a very low cost index fund - where you don't put the money in at one time, but average in over 10 years -you'll do better than 90% of people who start investing at the same time. ~ Warren Buffett

Intrinsic value can be defined simply: It is the discounted value of the cash that can be taken out of a business during its remaining life. The calculation of intrinsic value, though, is not so simple. As our definition suggests, intrinsic value is an estimate rather than a precise figure, and it is additionally an estimate that must be changed if interest rates move or forecasts of future cash flows are revised. ~ Warren Buffett

The time to buy stocks is consistently over time. You should never buy your investments with the idea, 'I have to get a certain return.' You should look at the best return possible and learn to live with that. But you should not try to make your investments earn what you feel you need. It doesn't work that way. The stock doesn't know you own it. ~ Warren Buffett

Our system works. Over time, people will live better and better. We have a system that unleashes human potential, and now China has a system that unleashes human potential. We will have interruptions. We overshoot and undershoot sometimes, but your kids and grandkids will live better than you. Over time, we move ahead at a pretty damn rapid rate. ~ Warren Buffett

The smarter the journalists are, the better off society is. For to a degree, people read the press to inform themselves - and the better the teacher, the better the student body. ~ Warren Buffett

When forced to choose, I will not trade even a night's sleep for the chance of extra profits. ~ Warren Buffett

Never give up searching for the job that you are passionate about ~ Warren Buffett

If anything, taxes for the lower and middle class and maybe even the upper middle class should even probably be cut further. But I think that people at the high end - people like myself - should be paying a lot more in taxes. We have it better than we've ever had it. ~ Warren Buffett

A contrarian approach is just as foolish as a follow-the-crowd strategy. What's required is thinking rather than polling. ~ Warren Buffett

Would your reply possibly be this? Well, it all depends on what my tax rate will be on the gain you're saying we're going to make. If the taxes are too high, I would rather leave the money in my savings account, earning a quarter of 1 percent. Only in Grover Norquist's imagination does such a response exist. ~ Warren Buffett

When I was 5, my father was very much my hero. And he ran for political office in a very thankless campaign for a very thankless position. And he did it because his mother had instilled in him, if you are someone who has the capacity to make a great change, you have the responsibility. ~ Howard Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett pays taxes on a smaller percentage of his billions in income than his cleaning lady. ~ Eric Alterman

In investing, just as in baseball, to put runs on the scoreboard, one must watch the playing field, not the scoreboard. ~ Warren Buffett

Managers and investors alike must understand that accounting numbers are the beginning, not the end, of business valuation. ~ Warren Buffett

What could be more advantageous in an intellectual contest - whether it be chess, bridge, or stock selection - than to have opponents who have been taught that thinking is a waste of energy? ~ Warren Buffett

Larger sums may be an advantage at some cases and a disadvantage at others. ~ Warren Buffett

The U.S. Treasury has got borrowing costs like nobody else has. They can borrow basically unlimited amounts. They can stay there for years and years. These assets will be worth more money over time. ~ Howard Warren Buffett

Never test the depth of the river with both feet. - WARREN BUFFETT ~ Anthony Robbins

If your employees, including your CEO, wish to give to their alma maters or other institutions to which they feel a personal attachment, we believe they should use their own money, not yours. ~ Warren Buffett

The trick is, when there is nothing to do, do nothing. ~ Warren Buffett

We have embraced the 21st century by entering such cutting-edge industries as brick, carpet, insulation and paint. Try to control your excitement. ~ Warren Buffett

The Happiest people DO NOT necessarily have the BEST THINGS.
They simply APPRECIATE the things they have. ~ Warren Buffett

If you gave me $100 billion and said take away the soft drink leadership of Coca-Cola in the world, I'd give it back to you and say it can't be done. ~ Warren Buffett

You don't need to have extraordinary effort to achieve extraordinary results. You just need to do the ordinary, everyday things exceptionally well. ~ Warren Buffett

We select such investments on a long-term basis, weighing the same factors as would be involved in the purchase of 100% of an operating business: (1) favorable long-term economic characteristics; (2) competent and honest management; (3) purchase price attractive when measured against the yardstick of value to a private owner; and (4) an industry with which we are familiar and whose long-term business characteristics we feel competent to judge. ~ Warren Buffett

For example: (1) As if governed by Newton's First Law of Motion, an institution will resist any change in its current direction; (2) Just as work expands to fill available time, corporate projects or acquisitions will materialize to soak up available funds; (3) Any business craving of the leader, however foolish, will be quickly supported by detailed rate-of-return and strategic studies prepared by his troops; and (4) The behavior of peer companies, whether they are expanding, acquiring, setting executive compensation or whatever, will be mindlessly imitated. ~ Warren Buffett

Cash combined with courage in a time of crisis is priceless. ~ Warren Buffett

Be fearful when the markets get greedy, be greedy when the markets get fearful. ~ Warren Buffett

Do not save what is left after spending; instead spend what is left after saving. ~ Warren Buffett

If I subscribed to the efficient market theory I would still be delivering papers ~ Warren Buffett

Problems in a company are like cockroaches in the kitchen. You will never find just one ~ Warren Buffett

The commercial paper market, when that dries up, you know, that's just like sucking the blood out of the economic body of the United States. ~ Howard Warren Buffett

Never invest in a business you don't understand. ~ Warren Buffett

If you owe money, you can't pay them out. You just pay for everything, you do smart things, you eventually get very rich. If you do smart things and use leverage and do one wrong thing along the way, it could wipe you out, because anything times zero is zero. But it's reinforcing when the people around you are doing it successfully, you're doing it successfully, and it's a lot like Cinderella at the ball. And everybody thinks they're going to leave at two minutes to 12. ~ Howard Warren Buffett

Take the probability of loss times the amount of possible loss from the probability of gain times the amount of possible gain. That is what we're trying to do. It's imperfect, but that's what it's all about. ~ Warren Buffett

Never invest in a business you can't understand ~ Warren Buffett

I certainly do believe anyone engaged in the management of money should have a standard of measurement, and that both he and the party whose money is managed should have a clear understanding why it is the appropriate standard, what time period should be utilized, etc. ~ Warren Buffett

To be successful, you should concentrate on the world of companies, not arcane accounting mathematics. ~ Warren Buffett

I will tell you how to become rich. Close the doors. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful. ~ Warren Buffett

By periodically investing in an index fund, the know-nothing investors can actually outperform most investment professionals. ~ Warren Buffett

Never test the depth of river with both the feet. ~ Warren Buffett

As of 1992, in fact-though the picture would have improved since then-the money that had been made since the dawn of aviation by all of this country's airline companies was zero. Absolutely zero. ~ Warren Buffett

There comes a time when you ought to start doing what you want. Take a job that you love. You will jump out of bed in the morning. I think you are out of your mind if you keep taking jobs that you don't like because you think it will look good on your resume. Isn't that a little like saving up sex for your old age? ~ Warren Buffett

Look at market fluctuations as your friend rather than your enemy; profit from folly rather than participate in it. ~ Warren Buffett

A fool and his money are soon invited everywhere. ~ Warren Buffett

So if you are evaluating others (or yourself!) in the investment field, think out some standards - apply them - interpret them. ~ Warren Buffett

Money to some extent sometimes let you be in more interesting environments. But it can't change how many people love you or how healthy you are. ~ Warren Buffett

Invest in as much of yourself as you can, you are your own biggest asset by far. ~ Warren Buffett

Remember that the stock market is manic-depressive. ~ Warren Buffett

I measure success by how many people love me. And the best way to be loved is to be lo veable. ~ Warren Buffett

I have worked with investors for 60 years and I have yet to see anyone - not even when capital gains rates were 39.9 percent in 1976-77 - shy away from a sensible investment because of the tax rate on the potential gain. ~ Warren Buffett

I have a wonderful family. I have a job that I love and wonderful people who help me with it. It can't get any better than that. ~ Warren Buffett

In the long run managements stressing accounting appearance over economic substance usually achieve little of either. ~ Warren Buffett

I buy expensive suits. They just look cheap on me. ~ Warren Buffett

Investing is not as tough as being a top-notch bridge player. All it takes is the ability to see things as they really are. ~ Warren Buffett

We also believe candour benefits us as managers. The CEO who misleads often in public eventually misleads himself in private. ~ Warren Buffett

When the brothel burns down, even the pretty girls have to run out. ~ Warren Buffett

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. ~ Warren Buffett

Yeah, we don't consider many stupid things. I mean, we get rid of 'em fast ... Just getting rid of the nonsense
just figuring out that if people call you and say, 'I've got this great, wonderful idea', you don't spend 10 minutes once you know in the first sentence that it isn't a great, wonderful idea ... Don't be polite and go through the whole process. ~ Warren Buffett

Taking jobs to build up your resume is the same as saving up sex for old age. ~ Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett likes to say that the first rule of investing is "Don't lose money," and the second rule is, "Never forget the first rule." I too believe that avoiding loss should be the primary goal of every investor. This does not mean that investors should never incur the risk of any loss at all. Rather "don't lose money" means that over several years an investment portfolio should not be exposed to appreciable loss of principal. ~ Seth Klarman

We like to buy businesses, but we don't like to sell them. ~ Warren Buffett

Of one thing be certain: if a CEO is enthused about a particularly foolish acquisition, both his internal staff and his outside advisors will come up with whatever projections are needed to justify his stance. Only in fairy tales are emperors told that they are naked. ~ Warren Buffett

I never buy anything unless I can fill out on a piece of paper my reasons. I may be wrong, but I would know the answer to that ... I'm paying $32 billion today for the Coca Cola Company because ... If you can't answer that question, you shouldn't buy it. If you can answer that question, and you do it a few times, you'll make a lot of money. ~ Warren Buffett

I have three boxes on my desk: In, Out, and Too Hard. ~ Warren Buffett

When Warren Buffett says the sun shines out of somebody's backside, it's worth paying attention. ~ Guy Spier

Charlie and I believe our four criteria are essential if directors are to do their job - which, by law, is to faithfully represent owners. Yet these criteria are usually ignored. Instead, consultants and CEOs seeking board candidates will often say, "We're looking for a woman," or "a Hispanic," or "someone from abroad," or what have you. It sometimes sounds as if the mission is to stock Noah's ark. Over the years I've been queried many times about potential directors and have yet to hear anyone ask, "Does he think like an intelligent owner?" The questions I instead ~ Warren Buffett

Derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction. ~ Warren Buffett

When Warren Buffett talks about competing against only half of the population, I think about her and wonder how different her life might have been if she had been born half a century later. ~ Sheryl Sandberg

An investor needs to do very few things right as long as he or she avoids big mistakes. ~ Warren Buffett

Buy a cross section of American industry, and if a cross section of American industry doesn't work, certainly trying to pick the little beauties here and there isn't going to work either. ~ Warren Buffett

If the reason for doing something is that everyone else is doing it, it's not a good enough reason. ~ Warren Buffett

You have to be able to communicate in life and probably schools underemphasize that. If you can't talk to people or write, you're giving up your potential. ~ Warren Buffett

Look for 3 things in a person. Intelligence, Energy, & Integrity.
If they don't have the last one, don't even bother with the first two. ~ Warren Buffett

I've made money over the years by buying into good companies, run by good people, at attractive prices. And I don't try and make it out of buying into the market at one point and selling at another point. ~ Warren Buffett

You may be very mad at some guy that walked away with a huge golden parachute, but that really isn't the important thing. I mean, if Pearl Harbor came along, you could have said the planning was wrong by the military ahead of time or maybe the battleships shouldn't have all been in the harbor and all that kind of thing. ~ Howard Warren Buffett

When you build a bridge, you insist that it can carry 30,000 pounds, but you only drive 10,000-pound trucks across it. And that same principle works in investing. ~ Warren Buffett

The one piece of advice I can give you is, do what turns you on. Do something that if you had all the money in the world, you'd still be doing it. You've got to have a reason to jump out of bed in the morning. ~ Warren Buffett

Equities will do well over time - you just have to avoid getting excited when other people are getting excited. ~ Warren Buffett

The key to life is to figure out who to be the batboy for. ~ Warren Buffett

My life couldn't be happier. In fact, it'd be worse if I had six or eight houses. So, I have everything I need to have, and I don't need any more because it doesn't make a difference after a point ~ Warren Buffett

Ben's Mr. Market allegory may seem out-of-date in today's investment world, in which most professionals and academicians talk of efficient markets, dynamic hedging and betas. Their interest in such matters is understandable, since techniques shrouded in mystery clearly have value to the purveyor of investment advice. After all, what witch doctor has ever achieved fame and fortune by simply advising 'Take two aspirins'? ~ Warren Buffett

The most important investment you can make is in yourself. ~ Warren Buffett