Founder Quotes

“If you get to my age in life and nobody thinks well of you, I don't care how big your bank account is, your life is a disaster.”

“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.”

“The Happiest people DO NOT necessarily have the BEST THINGS.They simply APPRECIATE the things they have.”

“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.”

“The smartest side to take in a bidding war is the losing side.”

“Continually challenge and be willing to amend your best loved ideas.”

“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.”

“The less prudence with which others conduct their affairs, the greater the prudence with which we should conduct our own affairs.”

“I find that the standard of living does not go up in proportion with the cost of living. The trick in life is to do things that are fun all the time.”

“Observing that the market was FREQUENTLY efficient, EMT Adherents went on to conclude incorrectly that it was ALWAYS efficient. The difference between these propositions is night and day.”

“If you have a harem of 40 women, you never get to know any of them very well.”

“The most important quality for an investor is temperament, not intellect.”

“Our favorite holding period is forever.”

“Value is what you get.”

“I'm the luckiest guy in the world in terms of what I do for a living. No one can tell me to do things I don't believe in or things I think are stupid.”

“The best investment you can make is in yourself.”

“... but the important thing is that when you do find one where you really do know what you are doing, you must buy in quantity.... Charlie and I have made a dozen or so very big decisions relative to net worth, although not as big as they should have been. And in each of those, we've known that we were almost certain to be right going in.”

“I can't promise results, but I can promise a common destiny.”

“When asked how he became so successful in investing, Buffett answered: 'we read hundreds and hundreds of annual reports every year.”

“In some corner of the world they are probably still holding regular meetings of the Flat Earth Society. We derive no comfort because important people, vocal people, or great numbers of people agree with us. Nor do we derive comfort if they don't.”

“My father was the best person i've ever known.”

“In that, we agreed with Andrew Carnegie, who said that huge fortunes that flow in large part from society should in large part be returned to society. In my case, the ability to allocate capital would have had little utility unless I lived in a rich, populous country in which enormous quantities of marketable securities were traded and were sometimes ridiculously mispriced. And fortunately for me, that describes the U.S. in the second half of the last century.”

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

“You need a lot of curiosity for a long, long time.”

“I mean, you may be very mad at some guy that walked away with a huge golden parachute, but that really isn't the important thing.”