Warren Buffett Quotes

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

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

The only way to be loved is to be loveable, which really irritates me.

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

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

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

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.

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

During inflation, Goodwill is the gift that keeps on giving.

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

The smarter the journalists are, the better off society is. For to a degree, people read the press to inform themselves - and the better the teacher, the better the student body.

Americans are in a cycle of fear which leads to people not wanting to spend and not wanting to make investments, and that leads to more fear. We'll break out of it. It takes time.

Capitalism is not a perfect system. It may be better than all the other systems, but it's not a perfect system.

The commercial paper market, when that dries up, you know, that's just like sucking the blood out of the economic body of the United States.

The U.S. Treasury has got borrowing costs like nobody else has. They can borrow basically unlimited amounts. They can stay there for years and years. These assets will be worth more money over time.

I want our pie to grow all the people, but if some other guy's pie is growing a little faster, that's terrific.

If book knowledge made great investors, than the librarians would all be rich.

Today people who hold cash equivalents feel comfortable. They shouldn't. They have opted for a terrible long-term asset, one that pays virtually nothing and is certain to depreciate in value.

An investor should act as though he had a lifetime decision card with just twenty punches on it.

A lot of great fortunes in the world have been made by owning a single wonderful business. If you understand the business, you don't need to own very many of them.

If you don't make mistakes you can't make decisions.

Always invest for the long term.

We have usually made our best purchases when apprehensions about some macro event were at a peak. Fear is the foe of the faddist, but the friend of the fundamentalist.

If, when making a stock investment, you're not considering holding it at least ten years, don't waste more than ten minutes considering it.

The fundamental basis of above-average performance in the long run is sustainable competitive advantage.

That which is not worth doing at all is not worth doing well.

Possessing a powerful worldwide brand is essential for sustained success.

Charlie [Munger] and I are not big fans of resumes. Instead, we focus on brains, passion and integrity.

When the brothel burns down, even the pretty girls have to run out.

Long ago, Ben Graham taught me that "Price is what you pay; value is what you get." Whether we're talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down.

I prefer liquor store robbers with hungry kids to companies that locate offshore to avoid U.S. taxes.

Never get too hung up on mistakes.

The three most important words in investing...Margin of Safety.

It's a lot easier to buy things than it is to sell them.

A contrarian approach is just as foolish as a follow-the-crowd strategy. What's required is thinking rather than polling.

If I subscribed to the efficient market theory I would still be delivering papers

Valuing a business is part art and part science.

Wall Street makes its money on activity. You make your money on inactivity.

Writing a check separates a commitment from a conversation.

Our approach is very much profiting from lack of change rather than from change.

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.

If you want to shoot rare, fast-moving elephants, you should always carry a loaded gun.

Cash never makes us happy, but it's better to have the money burning a hole in Berkshire's pocket than resting comfortably in someone else's.

An investor needs to do very few things right as long as he or she avoids big mistakes.

The advice "you never go broke taking a profit" is foolish.

The active investors will have their returns diminished by a far greater percentage than will their inactive brethren. That means that the passive group - the "know-nothings" - must win.

In the great majority of cases we simply do not know enough about the industry or company to come to sensible judgments-in that situation we pass.

Remember that the stock market is manic-depressive.