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.
Interpretation
Success involves taking risks and making mistakes, but learning from them is crucial.
Warren Buffett's quote reflects the essence of entrepreneurship and investing, highlighting that even successful individuals like him can make poor choices. The acknowledgment of a significant loss emphasizes the inevitability of mistakes in the journey toward success and the importance of resilience and learning from failures.
In practice
At a business seminar discussing the importance of learning from mistakes, this quote can illustrate resilience in entrepreneurship.
I have no views as to where it will be, but the one thing I can tell you is it won't do anything between now and then except look at you. Whereas, you know, Coca-Cola (KO) will be making money, and I think Wells Fargo (WFC) will be making a lot of money and there will be a lot - and it's a lot - it's a lot better to have a goose that keeps laying eggs than a goose that just sits there and eats insurance and storage and a few things like that.
If the world couldn't see your results, would you rather be thought of as the world's greatest investor but in reality have the world's worst record? Or be thought of as the world's worst investor when you were actually the best?
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.
I think you should read everything you can. In my case, by the age of 10, I'd read every book in the Omaha public library about investing, some twice. _x000D_ You need to fill your mind with various competing thoughts and decide which make sense.
The most common cause of low prices is pessimism - some times pervasive, some times specific to a company or industry. We want to do business in such an environment, not because we like pessimism but because we like the prices it produces. It's optimism that is the enemy of the rational buyer.
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.
Start with a growing market. Swim in a stream that becomes a river and ultimately an ocean. Be a leader in that market, not a follower, and constantly build the best products possible.
It's sort of good to see your vocation as a daily task and have fairly modest expectations for financial or reward in other coin - glory, love, whatever.
It doesn't matter how many times you fail. You only have to be right once and then everyone can tell you that you are an overnight success.
People sometimes attribute my success to my genius; all the genius I know anything about is hard work.
When I think of the Olympics I only think of good things. I think of what a great event it is and what it has done for me and my career, and changed my personal life, too.
You don't just luck into things as much as you would like to think you do. You build step by step, whether it is friendships or opportunities.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.