Buffett Birthday: Cheers, Jeers And Great Quotes
Legendary investor Warren Buffett turns eighty today. It's been an interesting year for the Oracle of Omaha: he was criticized for defense of Goldman Sachs and the ratings agencies, but lauded for his philanthropic efforts and investment performance.
I have always admired Buffett, but never as much as when I interviewed his son Peter. How many billionaires are able to produce well-grounded and seemingly-normal offspring? Take a look at this interview and you may come away with it thinking as I did, that Buffett's greatest accomplishment has little to do with his investing prowess.
In honor of his big day, Buffett provided the Wall Street Journal with another great quote to add to the running list below: "I plan to work past 100 but to do so I may have to learn to think outside the box."
These are some of my favorite Buffett quotes:
- "Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget rule No. 1″
- "Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful."
- "It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price."
- "You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out."
- "Whether we're talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down."
- "Price is what you pay. Value is what you get."
- "I don't look to jump over 7-foot bars: I look around for 1-foot bars that I can step over."
- "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."
- "Never count on making a good sale. Have the purchase price be so attractive that even a mediocre sale gives good results."
- "In the business world, the rear-view mirror is always clearer than the windshield."
- "The investor of today does not profit from yesterday's growth."
- "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to lose it."
