I. RATIONALITY, REASONING & REALITY
- “Being rational is a moral imperative. You should never be stupider than you need to be.”
- “Whenever you think something or some person is ruining your life, it’s you. A victimization mentality is so debilitating.”
- “Knowing what you don’t know is more useful than being brilliant.”
- “Recognize reality even when you don’t like it. Especially when you don’t like it.”
- “We have to have a special insight, or we’ll put it in the ‘too tough’ basket. All of you have to look for a special area of competency and focus on that.”
- “Forgetting your mistakes is a terrible error if you are trying to improve your cognition.”
- “Is there such thing as a cheerful pessimist? That’s what I am.”
- “It never ceases to amaze me to see how much territory can be grasped if one merely masters and consistently uses all the obvious and easily learned principles.”
- “Acknowledging what you don’t know is the dawning of wisdom.”
- “If you don’t allow for self-serving bias in the conduct of others, you are, again, a fool.”
- “Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up…”
- “I never allow myself to have an opinion on anything that I don’t know the other side’s argument better than they do.”
- “If you have competence, you know the edge…”
- “A rough rule in life is that an organization foolish in one way… is foolish in another.”
- “Assume life will be really tough, and then ask if you can handle it. If the answer is yes, you’ve won.”
- “If you always tell people why, they’ll understand it better…”
- “I try to get rid of people who always confidently answer questions about which they don’t have any real knowledge.”
- “Mankind invented a system to cope with the fact that we are so intrinsically lousy at manipulating numbers. It’s called the graph.”
- “Intense interest in any subject is indispensable if you’re really going to excel in it.”
- “I believe in the discipline of mastering the best that other people have ever figured out.”
- “You don’t have to have perfect wisdom to get very rich. Just a bit better than average over a long period of time.”
- “Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.”
- “It’s a good habit to trumpet your failures and be quiet about your successes.”
- “Acquire worldly wisdom and adjust your behavior accordingly…”
- “There must be some wisdom in the folk saying, ‘It’s the strong swimmers who drown.'”
- “It’s dishonorable to stay stupider than you need to be.”
- “Denial is a common psychological misjudgment that causes terrible problems.”
- “When I run into a paradox, I think either I’m a total horse’s ass or fruitfully near the edge of my discipline.”
- “Strategic plans cause more dumb decisions than anything else in America.”
- “In engineering, people have a big margin of safety. But in finance, people let it balloon and balloon.”
II. WORLDLY WISDOM & MULTIDISCIPLINARY THINKING
- “If you want to understand science, you have to understand math…”
- “In my whole life, I have known no wise people who didn’t read all the time.”
- “I grabbed big ideas in all directions from other disciplines.”
- “If it is wisdom you’re after, you’re going to spend a lot of time on your ass reading.”
- “Intense interest in any subject is indispensable if you’re going to excel.”
- “Master the best that people before you have figured out.”
- “Acquire worldly wisdom and adjust your behavior accordingly.”
- “We are so intrinsically bad at manipulating numbers we invented the graph.”
- “Being consistently not stupid brings a lot of advantage.”
- “If you don’t keep learning, other people will pass you.”
- “I did not succeed in life by intelligence. I succeeded because I have a long attention span.”
- “The game of life is the game of everlasting learning.”
- “We have a passion for keeping things simple.”
- “Preparations — work, work, work, and hope for insights.”
- “Intellectual humility is the dawning of wisdom.”
- “Invert, always invert.”
- “Deferred gratification works if you want to get better.”
- “Rationality is a moral duty.”
- “Adapt your strategy to your own psychology.”
- “You can’t be a good investor without massive reading.”
III. INVESTING PRINCIPLES
- “It takes character to sit there with all that cash and do nothing.”
- “We look for a horse with one chance in two of winning and which pays you three to one.”
- “You don’t have to be brilliant, only a little bit wiser for a long time.”
- “Our job is to find a few intelligent things to do…”
- “The big money is not in the buying and selling, but in the waiting.”
- “The opportunities that matter are few — prepare to seize them.”
- “The first chance to avoid a loss from a foolish loan is refusing to make it.”
- “Bull markets go to people’s heads.”
- “If you have competence, you know the edge.”
- “Capitalism without failure is like religion without hell.”
- “It’s a rare business that doesn’t have a worse future than past.”
- “We focus on the knowable — how certain people swim against the current.”
- “You have to learn to be a follower before a leader.”
- “Opportunity comes to the prepared mind.”
- “I don’t invest in what I don’t understand.”
- “Good businesses can survive a little bad management.”
- “Trying to prioritize unlikely things is fruitless.”
- “If value doesn’t scream at you, it’s too close.”
- “You don’t need perfect wisdom to get rich.”
- “When you locate a bargain, ask: why me?”
- “Investing is knowing when a gamble is mispriced.”
- “Work, work, work — then load up when the insight comes.”
- “Trying to be consistently not stupid beats trying to be intelligent.”
- “We buy things with uncertain outcomes but decent prospects.”
- “Denial destroys investors.”
- “We don’t train executives; we find them.”
- “People extrapolate the past stupidly.”
- “One competitor is enough to ruin a business.”
- “Should concentration feel risky? Compare to owning great real estate.”
- “Predicting the future is hard.”
- “Why should getting rich be easy?”
- “There are worse situations than sitting with cash.”
- “If you took our top 15 decisions out, we’d be average.”
- “We insist on time to sit and think.”
- “Go to bed smarter than when you woke up.”
- “A great business at a fair price beats a fair business at a great price.”
- “Avoid working for someone you don’t admire.”
- “Mimicking the herd invites regression to the mean.”
- “All I want to know is where I’m going to die, so I never go there.”
- “Berkshire succeeded on two decisions a year.”
- “If you’re not willing to react with equanimity to a 50% decline…”
- “You’ll be out of fashion sometimes.”
- “Volatility is not risk; odds matter.”
- “Match strategy to your temperament.”
- “A few great investments + sitting tight = huge advantage.”
- “Good investors must do massive reading.”
IV. PSYCHOLOGY OF HUMAN MISJUDGMENT
- “Whenever you think someone is ruining your life, it’s you.”
- “Forgetting your mistakes is a terrible error.”
- “Is there such thing as a cheerful pessimist? That’s what I am.”
- “I have a black belt in chutzpah.”
- “If you don’t allow for self-serving bias in the conduct of others, you’re a fool.”
- “Bull markets go to people’s heads.”
- “Show me the incentive and I’ll show you the outcome.”
- “Strong swimmers drown.”
- “Denial distorts reality.”
- “Running into paradox is a sign you’re near the edge of your discipline.”
- “Strategic plans cause dumb decisions.”
- “False accounting balloons risk.”
- “Investing is a mispriced gamble.”
- “Denial destroys fortunes.”
- “People calculate too much and think too little.”
- “Not knowing your edge means you have no edge.”
V. PATIENCE, DISCIPLINE & TEMPERAMENT
- “It takes character to sit with cash and do nothing.”
- “The big money is in the waiting.”
- “Spend each day trying to be a little wiser.”
- “Most businesses have worse futures than pasts.”
- “If value doesn’t scream at you, walk away.”
- “Slightly better for a long time beats brilliance.”
- “Few insights — load up when they come.”
- “Being consistently not stupid beats being intelligent.”
- “Buy things with uncertain outcomes but decent returns.”
- “Sitting with cash is not a sin.”
- “Patience, not hyperactivity, created Berkshire’s track record.”
- “We insist on time to read and think.”
- “Go to bed smarter.”
- “Discipline, patience, decisiveness.”
- “Deferred gratification works.”
- “Avoid stupidity quickly.”
- “Two decisions a year built Berkshire.”
- “React calmly to 50% drops.”
- “You’ll be out of fashion sometimes.”
- “Volatility doesn’t matter; odds do.”
- “Match investing to your temperament.”
- “Few great investments + patience = compounding magic.”
VI. ETHICS, CHARACTER & LIFESTYLE
- “Those who are fortunate have a duty to give back.”
- “Reputation and integrity can be lost in a heartbeat.”
- “There’s no adequate life without making many mistakes.”
- “I have a black belt in chutzpah.”
- “The best armor of old age is a well-spent life.”
- “Choose clients as you would friends.”
- “Spend each day trying to be wiser.”
- “Strong swimmers drown.”
- “It’s dishonorable to stay stupid.”
- “The tax code rewards sitting.”
- “Avoid bosses you don’t admire.”
- “All I want to know is where I’m going to die, so I’ll never go there.”
- “Rationality is a moral duty.”
- “Go to bed smarter.”
