Warren Buffett Quotes

All Warren Buffett Quotes

1. "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?"

   Source: Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting (frequently cited) (2010)

   Adapt your investment thesis when fundamentals genuinely change — not from price swings.

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2. "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."

   Source: 1985 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1985)

   Recognize sunk costs: abandoning a failing investment beats endlessly repairing it.

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3. "Have the courage to act when opportunity presents itself. Hesitation leads to missed opportunities."

   Source: During the 2008 financial crisis (2008)

   Analysis without action is worthless — act decisively when opportunity appears.

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4. "I never try to buy at the bottom and I always buy too early. But that doesn't matter because I have long-term goals."

   Source: 2008 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (2008)

   Build positions gradually rather than trying to time the perfect entry point.

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5. "If you like spending six to eight hours per week working on investments, do it. If you don't, then dollar-cost average into index funds."

   Source: 2008 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (2009)

   For most investors, regular investing in index funds beats active stock picking.

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6. "Do your homework before buying anything. Thorough research is the best way to avoid risk."

   Source: 1993 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1993)

   Thorough research before investing is the most reliable form of risk management.

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7. "In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run, it is a weighing machine."

   Source: 2004 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting (2004)

   Short-term prices are driven by sentiment, but long-term prices always converge to business value.

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

   Source: 1986 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1986)

   Systematically buying during widespread fear and selling during euphoria is the essence of value investing.

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9. "A climate of fear is your friend when investing; a euphoric world is your enemy."

   Source: Berkshire Hathaway 2008 Letter to Shareholders (2008)

   Market fear is the value investor's greatest ally; euphoria is the greatest threat.

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10. "The best thing that happens to us is when a great company gets into temporary trouble."

    Source: 1998 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting (1998)

    The best buying opportunities emerge when excellent companies face temporary setbacks.

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11. "Diversification is protection against ignorance. It makes little sense if you know what you are doing."

    Source: 1996 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting (1996)

    A concentrated portfolio of deeply understood businesses outperforms broad diversification.

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12. "The stock market is a no-called-strike game. You don't have to swing at everything — you can wait for your pitch."

    Source: 1997 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting (1997)

    Extraordinary returns come from waiting for rare, obvious opportunities and then betting big.

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13. "Do not save what is left after spending, but spend what is left after saving."

    Source: Multiple Citations (2008)

    Save first, spend second — this simple reversal is the foundation of all wealth.

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14. "The idea that you can time the market is just not true... You can't do it."

    Source: 2002 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting (2002)

    Market timing is a proven way to underperform — nobody does it consistently.

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15. "I am a better investor because I am a businessman, and a better businessman because I am an investor."

    Source: Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (2008)

    The best investors think like business owners, not stock traders.

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16. "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."

    Source: Multiple Interviews (2008)

    Invest as if the stock market will close tomorrow and not reopen for five years.

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17. "When we own portions of outstanding businesses with outstanding managements, our favorite holding period is forever."

    Source: 1989 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1989)

    Hold exceptional businesses indefinitely.

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18. "In business, I look for economic castles protected by unbreachable moats."

    Source: 1989 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1989)

    Seek businesses with durable competitive advantages.

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19. "What an investor needs is the ability to correctly evaluate selected businesses. Note that word 'selected': You don't have to be an expert on every company."

    Source: 1989 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1989)

    Focus on what you truly understand.

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20. "The three most important words in investing are margin of safety. You don't try to buy businesses worth $83 million for $80 million. You leave yourself an enormous margin."

    Source: 1989 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1989)

    Always buy at a significant discount to intrinsic value.

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21. "We don't get paid for activity, just for being right. As to how long we'll wait, we'll wait indefinitely."

    Source: 1989 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1989)

    Patience and accuracy matter more than activity.

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22. "I try to buy stock in businesses that are so wonderful that an idiot can run them. Because sooner or later, one will."

    Source: 1989 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1989)

    Invest in businesses so good they're nearly foolproof.

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23. "I call investing the greatest business in the world because you never have to swing. You stand at the plate, the pitcher throws you General Motors at 47! U.S. Steel at 39! And nobody calls a strike on you."

    Source: 1989 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1989)

    Wait for the perfect pitch in stock selection.

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

    Source: 1989 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1989)

    Quality matters more than price alone.

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25. "Never invest in a business you cannot understand. Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing."

    Source: 1989 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1989)

    Only invest in businesses you can thoroughly understand.

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26. "The stock market is designed to transfer money from the active to the patient. Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful."

    Source: 1989 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1989)

    Use market emotions to your advantage.

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27. "We have long felt that the only value of stock forecasters is to make fortune tellers look good. Forecasts may tell you a great deal about the forecaster; they tell you nothing about the future."

    Source: 1989 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1989)

    Market predictions are unreliable and should be ignored.

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28. "Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No. 1."

    Source: 1989 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1989)

    Capital preservation is the foundation of investing.

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29. "In looking for people to hire, look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you."

    Source: 1989 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1989)

    Integrity is the most important quality in business partners.

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30. "The only value of stock forecasters is to make fortune-tellers look good."

    Source: 1999 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (2000)

    Market predictions are worthless noise that distract from genuine investment analysis.

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31. "The power of dividends reinvested is often overlooked by investors."

    Source: 1995 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1996)

    Reinvested dividends are the silent engine of long-term wealth creation.

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

    Source: 1989 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1989)

    Time amplifies the advantage of great businesses and exposes the weaknesses of poor ones.

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33. "The stock market is designed to transfer money from the Active to the Patient."

    Source: 2013 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (2014)

    Patient investors systematically capture wealth from those who trade impulsively.

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34. "My wealth has come from a combination of living in America, some lucky genes, and compound interest."

    Source: 1988 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1989)

    Compound interest is the most powerful force in wealth creation — but it demands time.

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35. "Our favorite holding period is forever. If you aren't willing to own a stock for 10 years, don't even think about owning it for 10 minutes."

    Source: 1988 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1988)

    The ideal holding period for a great business is forever.

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36. "I want to be able to make mistakes, to pay too much sometimes, and still do fine over time."

    Source: Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting (2008)

    Structure your portfolio so that mistakes don't destroy your long-term performance.

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37. "We will always be prepared for the thousand-year flood. In fact, if it occurs we will be selling life jackets to the unprepared."

    Source: Berkshire Hathaway 2002 Letter to Shareholders (2002)

    Always be financially prepared for catastrophic events that others dismiss as impossible.

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

    Source: Berkshire Hathaway 2001 Letter to Shareholders (2001)

    Bull markets mask poor decisions; only downturns reveal who was truly managing risk.

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

    Source: 1996 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting (1996)

    Wide diversification is a hedge for ignorance; deep knowledge justifies concentration.

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40. "Cash combined with courage in a crisis is priceless."

    Source: During the 2008 financial crisis (2008)

    Cash reserves during good times become the ammunition for great opportunities during crises.

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41. "I've seen more people fail because of liquor and leverage — leverage being borrowed money — than any other reason."

    Source: 2010 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting (2010)

    Borrowed money amplifies both gains and losses — and the losses can be fatal.

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42. "Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No. 1."

    Source: Warren Buffett interview clip (1985): Rule No.1 (1985)

    Capital preservation is the foundation upon which all investment returns are built.

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43. "Over the long term, the stock market news will be good. In the 20th century, the United States endured two world wars... and yet the Dow rose from 66 to 11,497."

    Source: Berkshire Hathaway 2008 Letter to Shareholders (2008)

    Long-term optimism about productive assets is supported by centuries of economic evidence.

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44. "If you're already rich, what's the point of risking what you have and need for what you don't have and don't need?"

    Source: 1998 University of Florida Speech (1998)

    Risking what you have and need for what you don't have and don't need is financial insanity.

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45. "The world is not driven by greed. It's driven by envy."

    Source: 2022 Daily Journal Annual Meeting (2022)

    Envy drives more bad investment decisions than greed ever could.

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

    Source: Multiple Citations (2008)

    Long-term wealth is built by planting seeds today for shade you'll enjoy decades later.

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47. "If you cannot control your emotions, you cannot control your money."

    Source: Multiple Interviews (2008)

    Emotional investing is the fastest path to financial ruin.

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48. "You are neither right nor wrong because the crowd disagrees with you. You are right because your data and reasoning are right."

    Source: 1966 Letter from Buffett Partnership, Ltd. (1966)

    Being right depends on facts and reasoning, not on whether others agree with you.

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49. "The most important quality for an investor is temperament, not intellect."

    Source: 1999 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting (1999)

    Emotional discipline matters more than IQ for investment success.

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50. "Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful."

    Source: Berkshire Hathaway 2004 Letter to Shareholders (2004)

    Contrarian thinking is the foundation of buying low and selling high.

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51. "Mr. Market is there to serve you, not to guide you. It is his pocketbook, not his wisdom, that you will find useful."

    Source: 1987 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1987)

    The market exists to serve you with prices, not to guide you with wisdom.

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52. "The most dangerous thing for a young investor is early success."

    Source: CNBC Interview with Warren Buffett (2010)

    Early success in investing can breed the overconfidence that leads to catastrophic losses.

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

    Source: 1994 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1994)

    Complexity in investing usually signals danger, not sophistication.

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54. "What counts for most people in investing is not how much they know, but rather how realistically they define what they don't know."

    Source: Berkshire Hathaway 1992 Letter to Shareholders (1992)

    Honest self-assessment of what you don't know prevents the costliest investment mistakes.

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55. "We have a very small field. We don't try to be good at everything."

    Source: 2007 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting (2007)

    Deep expertise in a few areas beats shallow knowledge across many.

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56. "I call investing the greatest business in the world because you never have to swing. You stand at the plate, the pitcher throws you General Motors at 47! U.S. Steel at 39! And nobody calls a strike on you."

    Source: 1998 University of Florida Speech (1998)

    In investing, you can wait indefinitely for the perfect pitch — there are no called strikes.

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57. "I just sit in my office and read all day. That's all I do."

    Source: CNBC Interview with Warren Buffett (2008)

    Relentless reading and learning is the most underrated investment strategy.

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58. "Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing."

    Source: Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meetings (1993)

    True investment risk comes from not understanding what you own.

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59. "Know your circle of competence, and stick within it. The size of that circle is not very important; knowing its boundaries, however, is vital."

    Source: 1996 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1996)

    Knowing the boundaries of what you understand matters more than expanding your knowledge.

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60. "Somebody once said that in looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you."

    Source: 1992 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting (1992)

    Integrity is the non-negotiable foundation — without it, intelligence and energy become dangerous.

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61. "An economic franchise arises from a product or service that: (1) is needed or desired; (2) is thought by its customers to have no close substitute; and (3) is not subject to price regulation."

    Source: Berkshire Hathaway 1991 Letter to Shareholders (1991)

    A true economic franchise has pricing power, customer loyalty, and no close substitutes.

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62. "The best business is a royalty on the growth of others, requiring little capital itself."

    Source: Berkshire Hathaway 2007 Letter to Shareholders (2007)

    The best businesses grow profits without requiring proportional capital investment.

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63. "I look for businesses that are like the only bridge over a river."

    Source: Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting (2008)

    The ideal investment is a business with monopoly-like economics that customers can't avoid.

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64. "The primary test of managerial economic performance is the achievement of a high earnings rate on equity capital employed."

    Source: 1979 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1979)

    Consistently high return on equity signals a business with genuine competitive advantages.

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65. "The single most important decision in evaluating a business is pricing power. If you've got the power to raise prices without losing business to a competitor, you've got a very good business."

    Source: 2011 CNBC Interview (2011)

    Pricing power is the single best indicator of a business's competitive strength.

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66. "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."

    Source: 1989 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1989)

    Bad business economics will defeat even the most talented management team.

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67. "Never invest in a business you cannot understand."

    Source: 1996 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting (1996)

    Only invest in businesses whose economics you can fully understand.

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

    Source: 1989 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1989)

    Overpaying for a great business beats getting a bargain on a mediocre one.

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69. "In business, I look for economic castles protected by unbreachable moats."

    Source: 1995 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting (1995)

    The strongest businesses are protected by durable competitive advantages that repel competitors.

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70. "Every dollar of retained earnings should create at least one dollar of market value."

    Source: Berkshire Hathaway 1984 Letter to Shareholders (1984)

    Every dollar retained by a company should create at least one dollar of market value.

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71. "When we own portions of outstanding businesses with outstanding managements, our favorite holding period is forever."

    Source: 1988 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1988)

    Think of stocks as partial ownership of real businesses, not as trading instruments.

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72. "It is better to be approximately right than precisely wrong."

    Source: 1989 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1989)

    A rough estimate of true value beats a precise calculation based on flawed assumptions.

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73. "Owner earnings are the relevant item for valuation purposes — not reported earnings."

    Source: 1986 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1986)

    Owner earnings — not accounting earnings — reveal a business's true economic reality.

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

    Source: 1987 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1987)

    Market volatility creates buying opportunities for disciplined value investors.

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75. "We insist on a margin of safety in our purchase price. If we calculate the value of a common stock to be only slightly higher than its price, we're not interested in buying."

    Source: Berkshire Hathaway 1992 Letter to Shareholders (1992)

    Demand a significant discount to intrinsic value before buying — that gap is your protection.

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76. "Intrinsic value is the discounted value of the cash that can be taken out of a business during its remaining life."

    Source: 1994 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (1994)

    Intrinsic value is the only rational benchmark for investment decisions.

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77. "Price is what you pay, value is what you get. They are not the same thing."

    Source: 2008 Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders (2008)

    The core lesson of value investing: separate market price from intrinsic business value.

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