Warren Buffett Quotes

It's never paid to bet against America. We come through things, but its not always a smooth ride.

Let blockheads read what blockheads wrote.

If anything, taxes for the lower and middle class and maybe even the upper middle class should even probably be cut further. But I think that people at the high end - people like myself - should be paying a lot more in taxes. We have it better than we've ever had it.

Our favorite holding period is forever.

There are 309 million people out there that are trying to improve their lot in life. And we've got a system that allows them to do it.

I am quite serious when I say that I do not believe there are, on the whole earth besides, so many intensified bores as in these United States. No man can form an adequate idea of the real meaning of the word, without coming here.

Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No.2: Never forget rule No.1.

We enjoy the process far more than the proceeds.

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.

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.

The business schools reward difficult complex behavior more than simple behavior, but simple behavior is more effective.

Time is the friend of the wonderful company, the enemy of the mediocre.

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.

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

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.'

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.

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.

I just think that - when a country needs more income and we do, we're only taking in 15 percent of GDP, I mean, that - that - when a country needs more income, they should get it from the people that have it.

It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.

If past history was all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians.

Value is what you get.

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

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.

The big question about how people behave is whether they've got an Inner Scorecard or an Outer Scorecard. It helps if you can be satisfied with an Inner Scorecard.

Wall Street is the only place that people ride to in a Rolls Royce to get advice from those who take the subway.

I sent one e-mail in my life. I sent it to Jeff Raikes at Microsoft, and it ended up in court in Minneapolis, so I am one for one.

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

The best thing I did was to choose the right heroes.

Beware of geeks bearing formulas.

Only buy something that you'd be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years.

Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.

Wide diversification is only required when investors do not understand what they are doing.

We always live in an uncertain world. What is certain is that the United States will go forward over time.

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

There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult.

Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.

You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don't do too many things wrong.

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

I think that both parties should declare the debt limit as a political weapon of mass destruction which can't be used. I mean, it is silly to have a country that has 237 years building up its reputation and then have people threaten to tear it down because they're not getting some other matter.

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.

Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing.

You have no ability, if you're a financial institution and you're threatened with criminal prosecution, you have no ability to negotiate.

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.

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.

Look at market fluctuations as your friend rather than your enemy; profit from folly rather than participate in it.

Derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction.

A public-opinion poll is no substitute for thought.

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.

Your premium brand had better be delivering something special, or it's not going to get the business.

We're still in a recession. We're not gonna be out of it for a while, but we will get out.