Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing.

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

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

We enjoy the process far more than the proceeds.

I buy expensive suits. They just look cheap on me.

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

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.

When you combine ignorance and leverage, you get some pretty interesting results.

I don't look to jump over 7-foot bars: I look around for 1-foot bars that I can step over.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

The rich are always going to say that, you know, just give us more money and we'll go out and spend more and then it will all trickle down to the rest of you. But that has not worked the last 10 years, and I hope the American public is catching on.

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

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

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.'

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.

Of the billionaires I have known, money just brings out the basic traits in them. If they were jerks before they had money, they are simply jerks with a billion dollars.

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

In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.

If a business does well, the stock eventually follows.

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.

Beware of geeks bearing formulas.

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

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.

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

A public-opinion poll is no substitute for thought.

I think the most important factor in getting out of the recession actually is just the regenerative capacity of - of American capitalism.

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.

Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.

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.

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

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

The first rule is not to lose. The second rule is not to forget the first rule.

Let blockheads read what blockheads wrote.

Derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction.

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.

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

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