Quotes on Buffets

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.

Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.

Whether we’re talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down.

We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful.

If you've been playing poker for half an hour and you still don't know who the patsy is, you're the patsy.

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

Much success can be attributed to inactivity. Most investors cannot resist the temptation to constantly buy and sell.

We will reject interesting opportunities rather than over-leverage our balance sheet.

Only when you combine sound intellect with emotional discipline do you get rational behavior.

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.

Most people get interested in stocks when everyone else is. The time to get interested is when no one else is. You can't buy what is popular and do well.

A very rich person should leave his kids enough to do anything, but not enough to do nothing.

Opportunities come infrequently. When it rains gold, put out the bucket, not the thimble.

We have long felt that the only value of stock forecasters is to make fortune-tellers look good.

I've seen more people fail because of liquor and leverage -- leverage being borrowed money. You really don't need leverage in this world much. If you're smart, you're going to make a lot of money without borrowing.

The most important quality for an investor is temperament, not intellect. You need a temperament that neither derives great pleasure from being with the crowd or against the crowd.

Never invest in a business you can't understand

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

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

If a business does well, the stock eventually follows.

The investor of today does not profit from yesterday's growth.