Founder Quotes

“To win, the first thing you have to do is not lose.”

“The greatest investment a young person can make is in their own education, in their own mind. Because money comes and goes. Relationships come and go. But what you learn once stays with you forever.”

“The stock market is a wonderfully efficient mechanism for transferring wealth from the impatient to the patient.”

“All day you wait for the pitch you like; then when the fielders are asleep, you step up and hit it.”

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

“I don't want to give a lecture to this body that's out there. You know, I mean, having had the heart attack, I want to get it back functioning. And as a practical matter, I mean if you were Bear Stearns, and you were a shareholder, you know, you lost 90 to 95 percent of your money. A good many lost their jobs. They lost very cushy lives, many of them.”

“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.”

“Confidence is key. You're not going to put your money - you're not going to leave your money with me unless you're confident I'm going to give it back to you.”

“it's a good idea to review past mistakes before committing new ones.”

“If you're in a card game and you can't figure out who the patsy is, you're it.”

“Buy stocks like you buy your groceries, not like you buy your perfume.”

“Occasionally, a man must rise above principles.”

“Good profits simply are not inconsistent with good behavior.”

“We will prosper or suffer in controlled investments in relation to the operating performances of our businesses - we will not attempt to profit by playing various games in the securities markets.”

“I mean, Hank Paulson is in there [ Treasury] at the wrong time, probably shouldn't have taken the job. He's a friend of mine. But he knows markets, he knows corporations' work, he knows money, and he's got the interests of the country at heart.”

“You could be somewhere where the mail was delayed three weeks and do just fine investing.”

“Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”

“Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago. The person sitting in the shade now should be grateful for the person who planted and tended that tree. That includes all those benefactors of humanity throughout history that created, invented, financed, produced, maintained and improved all that we enjoy today.”

“I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think. That is very uncommon in American business. I read and think. So I do more reading and thinking, and make less impulse decisions than most people in business. I do it because I like this kind of life.”

“Things you like to do should be a hobby of yours, but things the world does should be a business of yours.”

“The most important investment you can make is in yourself... nobody can tax it or take it away from you.”

“Like I say, I don't think it'll be done perfectly. Maybe we'll end up with a little bit better [economy] system.”

“It's good to learn from your mistakes. It's better to learn from other people's mistakes.”

“The key to life is to figure out who to be the batboy for.”

“We've got all the ingredients for a sensational future.”