Quotes by Warren Edward BuffettOver the years, Charlie 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.  I've reluctantly discarded the notion of my continuing to manage the portfolio after my death abandoning my hope to give new meaning to the term 'thinking outside the box.' The 400 of us pay a lower part of our income in taxes than our receptionists do, or our cleaning ladies, for that matter. If you're in the luckiest 1 per cent of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99 per cent. A girl in a convertible is worth five in the phonebook. Our favourite holding period is forever. [The perfect amount of money to leave children is] enough money so that they would feel they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing. Managers and investors alike must understand that accounting numbers are the beginning, not the end, of business valuation. You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out. Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago. Investors should remember that excitement and expenses are their enemies. And if they insist on trying to time their participation in equities, they should try to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful. Whether were talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down. Putting people into homes, though a desirable goal, shouldnt be our countrys primary objective. Keeping them in their homes should be the ambition. We never want to count on the kindness of strangers in order to meet tomorrows obligations. When forced to choose, I will not trade even a nights sleep for the chance of extra profits. Upon leaving [the derivatives business], our feelings about the business mirrored a line in a country song: I liked you better before I got to know you so well. I try to buy stock in businesses that are so wonderful that an idiot can run them. Because sooner or later, one will. |
