34. Quote No. 1 on keeping it simple, stupid: “The business schools reward difficult complex behavior more than simple behavior, but simple behavior is more effective.”
35. Quote No. 2 on keeping it simple, stupid: “There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult.”
36. The Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.B) annual meeting is an unrivaled spectacle in investing, truly living up to its billing as the Woodstock for Capitalists.
37. One of the most concise summations of why America is great: “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.”
38. Trash-bin-diving caution No. 1: “It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.”
39. Trash-bin-diving caution No. 2: “Time is the friend of the wonderful company, the enemy of the mediocre.”
40. He’s an eternal optimist in a sound-bite culture that often rewards pessimists.
41. His shareholder letters reveal an artisan-like craftsmanship only seen when the proprietor cares deeply about his creation.
42. The contrarian credo: “We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful.”
43. He recognizes that genius fails: “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.”
44. Like so many great thinkers, Buffett is able to ignore noise and whittle a decision down to its core variables. After he explains those variables, the decision sounds elementary.
45. Why banking can be dangerous: “When you combine ignorance and leverage, you get some pretty interesting results.”
46. He allows me to see the name Buffett without thinking of Jimmy.
47. Buffett maintains a high thought-to-speech ratio.
48. Buffett’s librarian fantasy: “If past history was all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians.”
49. He converts a deadly sin into a virtue: “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.”
50. Averaging 20% returns for almost half a century results in beating the S&P 500 78-to-1!
51. Even though he has fewer and fewer meaningful investing options because of the size of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.B), he continues to wow us.
52. On a chili-dog-and-onion-ring-flavored note, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.B) owns Dairy Queen, my favorite fast-food chain.
53. Many of Buffett’s managers were wildly successful entrepreneurs before selling out to Berkshire. Convincing successful, headstrong, boss-less superstars to subjugate themselves, and keeping those people motivated and happy, is quite a feat.
54. On a related note, Buffett doesn’t micromanage — good thing, with an empire this large.
55. He gets doubted again and again and again and proves the doubters wrong most of the time. Yet you never hear him say, “I told you so.”
56. Well, maybe sometimes he gloats. Harvard Business School rejected him, which led him to study under his mentors Benjamin Graham and David Dodd at Columbia. His “How do you like me now?” statement: “Harvard did me a big favor by turning me down. But I haven’t made any contributions to them in thanks for that.”
57. He has become America’s de facto investing teacher. And he has done so willingly.
58. Perhaps my favorite Buffett line: “We like things that you don’t have to carry out to three decimal places. If you have to carry them out to three decimal places, they’re not good ideas.”
