Warren Buffett Quotes & Sayings

Would you rather be the world's greatest lover, but have everyone think you're the world's worst lover? Or would you rather be the world's worst lover but have everyone think you're the world's greatest lover? Now, that's an interesting question. — Warren Buffett

Most business mistakes are irreversible setbacks, but you get another chance. There are two things in life that you don't get another chance at - marrying the wrong person and what you do with your children. — Warren Buffett

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

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

Beware of geeks bearing formulas. — Warren Buffett

The attitude of our managers vividly contrasts with that of the young man who married a tycoon's only child, a decidedly homely and dull lass. Relieved, the father called in his new son- in-law after the wedding and began to discuss the future:
Son, you're the boy I always wanted and never had. Here's a stock certificate for 50% of the company. You're my equal partner from now on.'
Thanks, dad.'
Now, what would you like to run? How about sales?'
I'm afraid I couldn't sell water to a man crawling in the Sahara.'
Well then, how about heading human relations?'
I really don't care for people.'
No problem, we have lots of other spots in the business. What would you like to do?'
Actually, nothing appeals to me. Why don't you just buy me out? — Warren Buffett

In the search [of a deal], we adopt the same attitude one might find appropriate in looking for a spouse: It pays to be active, interested, and open-minded, but it does not pay to be in a hurry. — Warren Buffett

Our marketable equities tell us by their operating results - not by their daily, or even yearly, price quotations - whether our investments are successful. The market may ignore business success for a while, but eventually will confirm it. — Warren Buffett

As an investor with small capital, one should prefer businesses that have high returns on capital and that require little incremental investment to grow. — Warren Buffett

If you are not willing to own a stock for 10 years, do not even think about owning it for 10 minutes. — Warren Buffett

It takes 150 years to build an investment bank and only five minutes to convince you to sell me preferred stock in it at a 10% interest rate. — Warren Buffett

There are 309 million people out there that are trying to improve their lot in life. And we've got a system that allows them to do it. — 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

It irritates the hell out of me but you can't buy love. — Warren Buffett

I have a house that I bought 55 years ago. It's warm in the winter; it's cool in the summer. It has everything I wanted, plus it has all kinds of good memories. Like my kids, I have good thoughts about that. I can't imagine living any better. — Warren Buffett

The typical large company has a compensation committee, They don't look for Dobermans on that committee, they look for chihuahuas. — Warren Buffett

I don't want to be on the other side of the table from the customer. I was never selling anything that I didn't believe in myself or use myself. — Warren Buffett

Over the years, Charlie [Munger, Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman] and I have observed many accounting -based frauds of staggering size. Few of the perpetrators have been punished; many have not even been censured. It has been far safer to steal large sums with pen than small sums with a gun. — Warren Buffett

A very rich person should leave his kids enough to do anything, but not enough to do nothing. — Warren Buffett

An IPO is like a negotiated transaction - the seller chooses when to come public - and it's unlikely to be a time that's favourable to you. — Warren Buffett

It is obvious that the performance of a stock last year or last month is no reason, per se, to either own it or to not own it now. It is obvious that an inability to "get even" in a security that has declined is of no importance. It is obvious that the inner warm glow that results from having held a winner last year is of no importance in making a decision as to whether it belongs in an optimum portfolio this year. — Warren Buffett

Most people get interested in stocks when everyone else is. The time to get interested is when no one else is. You can't buy what is popular and do well. — Warren Buffett

The secret to happiness is having low expectations. — Warren Buffett

We don't get paid for activity, just for being right. As to how long we'll wait, we'll wait indefinitely. — Warren Buffett

If you've been playing poker for half an hour and you still don't know who the patsy is, you're the patsy. — Warren Buffett

Diversification is protection against ignorance. It makes little sense if you know what you are doing. — Warren Buffett

If you understood a business perfectly and the future of the business, you need very little in the way of a margin of safety. — Warren Buffett

It's a good idea to review past mistakes before committing new ones. — Warren Buffett

Be brave when others are afraid, and afraid when others are brave. — Warren Buffett

The truth is that I've got all my net worth safely in Berkshire and I will never sell a share so there is no one more concerned about what happens after my death than I am. — Warren Buffett

SUPPOSE that an investor you admire and trust comes to you with an investment idea. This is a good one, he says enthusiastically. I'm in it, and I think you should be, too. — Warren Buffett

Our goal is to find an outstanding business at a sensible price, not a mediocre business at a bargain price. — Warren Buffett

If I knew where I was going to want to live the next five or 10 years I would buy a home and I'd finance it with a 30-year mortgage ... It's a terrific deal. — Warren Buffett

Investors making purchases in an overheated market need to recognize that it may often take an extended period for the value of even an outstanding company to catch up with the price they paid. — Warren Buffett

In the insurance business, there is no statute of limitation on stupidity. — Warren Buffett

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

You could be somewhere where the mail was delayed three weeks and do just fine investing. — Warren Buffett

We don't get paid for being busy, we get paid for being right. — Warren Buffett

Life is like a snowball. The important thing is finding wet snow and a really long hill. — Warren Buffett

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

The most important thing in terms of your circle of competence is not how large the area of it is, but how well you've defined the perimeter. — Warren Buffett

Never be afraid to ask for too much when selling or offer too little when buying. — Warren Buffett

Stop trying to predict ... — Warren Buffett

We don't have to be smarter than the rest. We have to be more disciplined than the rest. — Warren Buffett

If you have more than 120 or 130 I.Q. points, you can afford to give the rest away. You don't need extraordinary intelligence to succeed as an investor. — Warren Buffett

I bought a company in the mid-'90s called Dexter Shoe and paid $400 million for it. And it went to zero. And I gave about $400 million worth of Berkshire stock, which is probably now worth $400 billion. But I've made lots of dumb decisions. That's part of the game. — Warren Buffett

Money will not change how healthy you are or how many people love you. — Warren Buffett

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

I have no use whatsoever for projections or forecasts. They create an illusion of apparent precision. The more meticulous they are, the more concerned you should be. We never look at projections, but we care very much about, and look very deeply at, track records. If a company has a lousy track record, but a very bright future, we will miss the opportunity ... — Warren Buffett

I always say that in investing you want to buy stock in a company that has a business that's so good that an idiot can run it, because sooner or later one will. We have a country like that. — Warren Buffett

Asking for financial advice from a financial planner is like asking a barber if you need a hair cut. — Warren Buffett

There are a few investment managers, of course, who are very good - though in the short run, it's difficult to determine whether a great record is due to luck or talent. Most advisors, however, are far better at generating high fees than they are at generating high returns. In truth, their core competence is salesmanship. Rather than listen to their siren songs, investors - large and small - should instead read Jack Bogle's The Little Book of Common Sense Investing. — Warren Buffett

A Company should be viewed as an unfolding movie, not as a still photograph — Warren Buffett

Two rules: 1. Preserve the principal 2. When in doubt, see Rule #1. — Warren Buffett

All there is to investing is picking good stocks at good times and staying with them as long as they remain good companies. — Warren Buffett

Although we deal with probabilities and expectations, the actual results can deviate substantially from such expectations, particularly on a short-term basis. — Warren Buffett

My favorite time frame for holding a stock is forever. — Warren Buffett

The reaction of weak management to weak operations is often weak accounting. — Warren Buffett

Our stay-put behavior reflects our view that the stock market serves as a relocation center at which money is moved from the active to the patient. — Warren Buffett

A lot of great fortunes in the world have been made by owning a single wonderful business. If you understand the business, you don't need to own very many of them. — Warren Buffett

The rich are always going to say that, you know, just give us more money and we'll go out and spend more and then it will all trickle down to the rest of you. But that has not worked the last 10 years, and I hope the American public is catching on. — Warren Buffett

The three most important words in investing ... Margin of Safety. — Warren Buffett

It's got to be the best intellectual exercise out there. You're seeing through new situations every ten minutes. In the stock market you don't base your decisions on what the market is doing, but on what you think is rational. Bridge is about weighing gain/loss ratios. You're doing calculations all the time. — Warren Buffett

It is madness to risk losing what you need in pursuing what you simply desire. — Warren Buffett

If you have a harem of 40 women, you never get to know any of them very well. — Warren Buffett

The Stock Market is designed to transfer money from the Active to the Patient. — Warren Buffett

Nothing sedates rationality like large doses of effortless money. — Warren Buffett

Investing is forgoing consumption now in order to have the ability to consume more at a later date. — Warren Buffett

Be fearful when there is greed and be greedy when there is fear. — Warren Buffett

I'm always interested in understanding the math of things and understanding as much as I can about all aspects of business. And what I learn today may be useful to me two years from now. That'sreally the wonderful thing about investments is your knowledge is cumulative. — Warren Buffett

There's no use running if you're on the wrong road. — Warren Buffett

The smartest side to take in a bidding war is the losing side. — Warren Buffett

Emotional makeup is more important than technical skill — Warren Buffett

I can't promise results, but I can promise a common destiny. — Warren Buffett

I am quite serious when I say that I do not believe there are, on the whole earth besides, so many intensified bores as in these United States. No man can form an adequate idea of the real meaning of the word, without coming here. — Warren Buffett

If the world couldn't see your results, would you rather be thought of as the world's greatest investor but in reality have the world's worst record? Or be thought of as the world's worst investor when you were actually the best? — Warren Buffett

A horse that can count to ten is a remarkable horse - not a remarkable mathematician. — Warren Buffett

If you buy the things you don't need, you will soon be selling the things that you need. — Warren Buffett

Stocks are the only thing that people are happy to buy when the price goes up. — Warren Buffett

You have no ability, if you're a financial institution and you're threatened with criminal prosecution, you have no ability to negotiate. — 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

We're perfectly willing to trade away a big payoff for a certain payoff. — Warren Buffett

A public-opinion poll is no substitute for thought. — Warren Buffett

Shares are not mere pieces of paper. They represent part ownership of a business. So, when contemplating an investment, think like a prospective owner. — Warren Buffett

Focus alone is not enough; putting in the time to commit is also crucial to achieve success. — Warren Buffett

You should invest like a Catholic marries: for life. — Warren Buffett

First come the innovators, then come the imitators, then come the idiots. — Warren Buffett

Knowing what to leave out is just as important as knowing what to focus on. — Warren Buffett

Failure comes from ego, greed, envy, fear, imitation. I have success not because I am smart, but because I am rational. — Warren Buffett

In our view, derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction carrying dangers that, while latent, are potentially lethal. — Warren Buffett

A single year's performance is of minor importance and, good or bad, should never be taken seriously. — Warren Buffett

I really like my life. I've arranged my life so that I can do what I want. — Warren Buffett

I get to do what I like to do every single day of the year. — 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

I have always cautioned partners that I considered three years a minimum in determining whether we were "performing". — Warren Buffett

Can you imagine any public company embracing a business model that would lead to the decline in revenue that we experienced from 1986 through 1999? — Warren Buffett

There are certain things that cannot be adequately explained to a virgin either by words or pictures. — Warren Buffett

Never count on making a good sale. Have the purchase price be so attractive that even a mediocre sale gives good results. — Warren Buffett

I would say the most satisfying thing actually is watching my three children each pick up on their own interests and work many more hours per week than most people that have jobs at trying to intelligently give away that money in fields that they particularly care about. — Warren Buffett