Warren Buffett
Derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction.Collection: Finance
If past history was all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians.Collection: History
Economic medicine that was previously meted out by the cupful has recently been dispensed by the barrel. These once unthinkable dosages will almost certainly bring on unwelcome after-effects. Their precise nature is anyone's guess, though one likely consequence is an onslaught of inflation.Collection: Nature
Our favorite holding period is forever.Collection: Business
Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.Collection: Inspirational
We've used up a lot of bullets. And we talk about stimulus. But the truth is, we're running a federal deficit that's 9 percent of GDP. That is stimulative as all get out. It's more stimulative than any policy we've followed since World War II.Collection: Truth
Risk is a part of God's game, alike for men and nations.Collection: God
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.Collection: Fear
Basically, when you get to my age, you'll really measure your success in life by how many of the people you want to have love you actually do love you.Collection: Success
The best thing I did was to choose the right heroes.Collection: Best
Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing.Collection: Knowledge
Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No.2: Never forget rule No.1.Collection: Money
The rich are always going to say that, you know, just give us more money and we'll go out and spend more and then it will all trickle down to the rest of you. But that has not worked the last 10 years, and I hope the American public is catching on.Collection: Hope
Of the billionaires I have known, money just brings out the basic traits in them. If they were jerks before they had money, they are simply jerks with a billion dollars.Collection: Money
The only way to get love is to be lovable. It's very irritating if you have a lot of money. You'd like to think you could write a check: 'I'll buy a million dollars' worth of love.' But it doesn't work that way. The more you give love away, the more you get.Collection: Money
Your premium brand had better be delivering something special, or it's not going to get the business.Collection: Business
If a business does well, the stock eventually follows.Collection: Business
The business schools reward difficult complex behavior more than simple behavior, but simple behavior is more effective.Collection: Business
Time is the friend of the wonderful company, the enemy of the mediocre.Collection: Time
When a management with a reputation for brilliance tackles a business with a reputation for bad economics, it is the reputation of the business that remains intact.Collection: Business
I buy expensive suits. They just look cheap on me.Collection: Funny
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.Collection: Age
In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.Collection: Business
I never attempt to make money on the stock market. I buy on the assumption that they could close the market the next day and not reopen it for five years.Collection: Money
We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful.Collection: Fear
I would say the most satisfying thing actually is watching my three children each pick up on their own interests and work many more hours per week than most people that have jobs at trying to intelligently give away that money in fields that they particularly care about.Collection: Money
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.Collection: Society
We believe that according the name 'investors' to institutions that trade actively is like calling someone who repeatedly engages in one-night stands a 'romantic.'Collection: Romantic
Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked.
It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.
Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.
Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.
I always knew I was going to be rich. I don't think I ever doubted it for a minute.
It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.
I don't look to jump over 7-foot bars: I look around for 1-foot bars that I can step over.
Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks.
Predicting rain doesn't count. Building arks does.
Wall Street is the only place that people ride to in a Rolls Royce to get advice from those who take the subway.
It's better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours and you'll drift in that direction.
You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don't do too many things wrong.
Look at market fluctuations as your friend rather than your enemy; profit from folly rather than participate in it.
The investor of today does not profit from yesterday's growth.
The first rule is not to lose. The second rule is not to forget the first rule.
We enjoy the process far more than the proceeds.
Wide diversification is only required when investors do not understand what they are doing.
A public-opinion poll is no substitute for thought.
When you combine ignorance and leverage, you get some pretty interesting results.
You do things when the opportunities come along. I've had periods in my life when I've had a bundle of ideas come along, and I've had long dry spells. If I get an idea next week, I'll do something. If not, I won't do a damn thing.
We always live in an uncertain world. What is certain is that the United States will go forward over time.
I bought a company in the mid-'90s called Dexter Shoe and paid $400 million for it. And it went to zero. And I gave about $400 million worth of Berkshire stock, which is probably now worth $400 billion. But I've made lots of dumb decisions. That's part of the game.