Inspirational quotes are plentiful on the blogosphere. There are a few individuals, though, that readers, particularly in investing circles, should pay attention to. Let’s look at Warren Buffett’s best quotes on business, investing, and life in general.
Buffett, an American business magnate, philanthropist, and an extremely, extremely successful investor, has been quoted many times throughout his 60-plus year career. There are, however, some key nuggets that we can hold above the others.
Buffett’s success in business has brought him the nickname the “Oracle of Omaha,” and it only takes a little bit of market-watching to see that investors follow each step Buffett makes, particularly shareholders of the illustrious Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.B).
Warren Buffett is also famous for his frugality and generosity, having pledged to give 99% of his fortune to philanthropic causes. His success in the investment world has made his words a how-to-guide for many readers, including us.
Without further ado, let’s look at Warren Buffett’s 20 most inspirational quotes. Despite his financial-focused background, Buffett’s thoughts also reflect some interesting points of view on life, history, and society in general.
Let’s take a look:
No. 20
“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.”
No. 19
“Only buy something that you’d be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years.”
No. 18
“I buy expensive suits. They just look cheap on me.”
No. 17
“The smarter the journalists are, the better off society is. For to a degree, people read the press to inform themselves – and the better the teacher, the better the student body.”
No. 16
“The 400 of us pay a lower part of our income in taxes than our receptionists do, or our cleaning ladies, for that matter. If you’re in the luckiest 1 percent of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99 percent.”
No. 15
“Our favorite holding period is forever.”
No. 14
“I never attempt to make money on the stock market. I buy on the assumption that they could close the market the next day and not reopen it for five years.”
No. 13
“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.”
No. 12
“It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.”
No. 11
“You know, people talk about this being an uncertain time. You know, all time is uncertain. I mean, it was uncertain back in – in 2007, we just didn’t know it was uncertain. It was – uncertain on September 10th, 2001. It was uncertain on October 18th, 1987, you just didn’t know it.”
No. 10
“Today people who hold cash equivalents feel comfortable. They shouldn’t. They have opted for a terrible long-term asset, one that pays virtually nothing and is certain to depreciate in value.”
No. 9
“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”
No. 8
“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.”
No. 7
“The investor of today does not profit from yesterday’s growth.”
No. 6
“In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.”
No. 5
“Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”
No. 4
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”
No. 3
“”Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No.2: Never forget rule No.1.”
No. 2
“Never invest in a business you can’t understand.”
No. 1
“Without passion, you don’t have energy. Without energy, you have nothing.”
We hope you enjoyed these quotes from the one and only Warren Buffett. For a look at his investment philosophy, check out his entire equity portfolio, here on Insider Monkey.
