Quotes from Warren Buffett


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


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.


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


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


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.


Predicting rain doesn't count. Building arks does.


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.


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


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


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.


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


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


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


Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked.


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


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.


Derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction.


In the 20th century, the United States endured two world wars and other traumatic and expensive military conflicts; the Depression; a dozen or so recessions and financial panics; oil shocks; a flu epidemic; and the resignation of a disgraced president. Yet the Dow rose from 66 to 11,497.


Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing.