Warren Buffett Quotes

When the Federal government buys the mortgages, they're not spending it, they're investing it.

Any time I can be of help to the government in terms of giving advice -I've given a little advice, actually.

I think it's terrible for people in effect to say that income from investment should be taxed at a much lower rate than income from labor.

People love leverage when it's working. I mean, it's so easy to borrow money from a guy at X and put it out at X.

Beware of geeks, you know, bearing formulas.

With each investment you make, you should have the courage and the conviction to place at least ten per cent of your net worth in that stock

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

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

When they get their ego involved, people do things they shouldn't do.

The (stock) market is there only as a reference point to see if anybody is offering to do anything foolish. When we invest in stocks, we invest in businesses.

An investor will succeed by coupling good business judgment with an ability to insulate his thoughts and behavior from the super-contagious emotions that swirl about the marketplace.

I learned to go into business only with people whom I like, trust, and admire.

Your money can be inflated away but your knowledge and talent cannot.

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.

The power of unconditional love. I mean, there is no power on earth like unconditional love.

Do what you love and work for whom you admire the most, and you've given yourself the best chance in life you can.

An investor should ordinarily hold a small piece of an outstanding business with the same tenacity that an owner would exhibit if he owned all of that business.

Good profits simply are not inconsistent with good behavior.

I’ve never believed in risking what my family and friends have and need in order to pursue what they don’t have and don’t need.

The future is never clear; you pay a very high price in the stock market for a cheery consensus. Uncertainty actually is the friend of the buyer of long-term values.

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

When we really sit back with a smile on our face is when we run into a situation we can understand, where the facts are ascertainable and clear, and the course of action obvious.

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

We really can say no in 10 seconds or so to 90%+ of all the things that come along simply because we have these filters.

We make investment decisions based on our evaluation of the most profitable combination of probabilities.

Consciously paying more for a stock than its calculated value - in the hope that it can soon be sold for a still-higher price - should be labelled speculation

My favorite time frame for holding a stock is forever.

Banking is very good business if you don't do anything dumb.

You are neither right nor wrong because the crowd disagrees with you.

Anything can happen in stock markets and you ought to conduct your affairs so that if the most extraordinary events happen, that you're still around to play the next day.

Well, it may be all right in practice, but it will never work in theory

Either they're trying to con you or they're trying to con themselves.

It's better to build than to buy if you can find the right people.

It makes a difference who the treasury secretary is.

There is no perfect mathematical formula for pricing a business.

What's nice about investing is you don't have to swing at every pitch.

AIG would be doing fine today. It was one of the ten largest companies in the United States in terms of market value, over 200 billion, the most respected insurer and everything in the world.

In a commodity business, it's very hard to be smarter than your dumbest competitor.

We can afford to lose money - even a lot of money. But we can't afford to lose reputation - even a shred of reputation.

Every company that has an economist working for him has one employee too many.

The 19th century belonged to England, the 20th century belonged to the U.S., and the 21st century belongs to China. Invest accordingly.

Like most trends, at the beginning it's driven by fundamentals, at some point speculation takes over. What the wise man does in the beginning, the fool does in the end.

Truly conservative actions arise from intelligent hypotheses, correct facts and sound reasoning.

We all make mistakes. If you can't make mistakes, you can't make decisions. I've made a lot bigger mistakes myself.

My idea of a group decision is to look in the mirror.

We do not have, nor have had, and never will have an opinion about where the stock market, interest rates, or business activity will be a year from now.

Don't invest in pieces of papers (stocks), invest in great businesses underlying them

Stocks of companies selling commodity-like products should come with a warning label: "Competition may prove hazardous to human wealth".

When bills come due, only cash is legal tender. Don't leave home without it.

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.