Warren Buffett Quotes

The dominant factors affecting control valuations are earning power (past and prospective) and asset values.

Managers that always promise to 'make the numbers' will at some point be tempted to make up the numbers.

It's class warfare, my class is winning, but they shouldn't be.

The greater the potential for reward in the value portfolio, the less risk there is.

We say we are trying to buy into businesses with excellent economics, run by honest and able people at a decent price. We buy very few securities, so we look at it as "focused" investing.

We would do best in a market where everyone acted foolishly.

The only time to buy these is on a day with no 'y' in it.

Buy a cross section of American industry, and if a cross section of American industry doesn't work, certainly trying to pick the little beauties here and there isn't going to work either.

He must never forget Charlie's plea: Tell me where I'm going to die, so I'll never go there.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure understated.

You are lucky in life if you have the right heroes. I advise all of you, to the extent you can, to pick out a few heroes

Do not take yearly results too seriously. Instead, focus on four or five-year averages.

Great investment opportunities come around when excellent companies are surrounded by unusual circumstances that cause the stock to be misappraised.

We intend to continue our practice of working only with people whom we like and admire. This policy not only maximizes our chances for good results, it also ensures us an extraordinarily good time.

I'm happy when I can spend every day doing the things that I like to do. That's my luxury.

Beware [of] the investment activity that produces applause; the great moves are usually greeted by yawns.

We set no volume goals in our insurance business generally-and certainly not in reinsurance-as virtually any volume can be achieved if profitability standards are ignored.

Read Ben Graham and Phil Fisher read annual reports, but don't do equations with Greek letters in them.

Too often, a vast collection of possessions ends up possessing its owner.

We enjoy the process far more than the proceeds.

Emotional makeup is more important than technical skill

I knew a lot about what I did when I was 20. I had read a lot, and I aspired to learn everything I could about the subject.

A prediction about the direction of the stock market tells you nothing about where stocks are headed, but a whole lot about the person doing the predicting.

You can't buy what is popular and do well.

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.

It is easier to rationalize than it is to be rational.

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.

What you really want to do in investments is figure out what's important and knowable. If it's unimportant or unknowable you forget about it.

Risk is a part of God's game, alike for men and nations.

I think the most important factor in getting out of the recession actually is just the regenerative capacity of - of American capitalism.

We also believe candour benefits us as managers. The CEO who misleads often in public eventually misleads himself in private.

One’s objective should be to get it right, get it quick, get it out and get it over. Your problem won’t improve with age.

Market prices for stocks fluctuate at great amplitudes around intrinsic value but, over the long term, intrinsic value is virtually always reflected at some point in market price.

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

Too often, a vast collection of possessions ends up possessing its owner. The asset I most value, aside from health, is interesting, diverse, and long-standing friends.

I view derivatives as time bombs, both for the parties that deal in them and the economic system.

Occasionally, a man must rise above principles.

There is nothing like writing to force you to think and get your thoughts straight.

Why not invest your assets in the companies you really like? As Mae West said, 'Too much of a good thing can be wonderful'.

If you want your business to survive for 100 years, you've got to make it through every single day for 100 years. It's not enough to do it 99.9% of the time.

We've used derivatives for many, many years. I don't think derivatives are evil, per se, I think they are dangerous.

Buy into a company because you want to own it, not because you want the stock to go up.

If you look at the Forbes 400, they are paying a lower rate, accounting payroll taxes, than their secretary or - whomever around their office.

If I eat 2,700 calories a day, a quarter of that is Coca-Cola.

I am a huge bull on this country. We will not have a double-dip recession at all. I see our businesses coming back almost across the board.

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

If you don't know jewelry, know the jeweler.

You should invest in a business that even a fool can run, because someday a fool will.

Returns decrease as motion increases.

The ideal business is one that earns very high returns on capital and that keeps using lots of capital at those high returns. That becomes a compounding machine.