The Most Insightful Warren Buffett Quotes
There is a lot that can be learned from mentors. When someone has been very successful at something, it would only make sense to study this person. Back in 2015, I posted about a book called The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life. The book is a very long book but it is well worth the read.
Reading that book has just been one of the many ways that i have received mentoring from Buffett.One of my favorite ways that I have learned is from watching the live broadcast from the Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders Meeting. His annual letters have always been a great source as well.
Over the years, Buffett has excelled at his ability to land some very insightful quotes regardless of what medium he is using to express himself. Let’s take a look at some of his very witty quotes.
1. “Rule No. 1 is never lose money. Rule No. 2 is never forget Rule No. 1.”
Well now isn’t this the best quote to start with. Why is it the best? Well simply because it is Buffett’s golden rule of investing. If you just follow rule #1 then you will have a very successful investing career.
2. “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”
Mister Warren Buffett nails it with this one. It is implied too often that the price is equivalent to the value and Buffett is able to shred that idea with one very insightful quote.
3. “We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful.”
This is simply the absolute core of value investing. When that share price is down and people are afraid of what the company is going to do, these are the times when sharks like Buffett swoop in and buy up the stock when it is at a cheap price and then they look brilliant when the stock price goes back up.
4. “It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.”
This is a great quote because it acts as a perfect reminder that you want to buy great companies. Buy that great company and over the long term your investment will truly flourish.
5. “If you aren’t willing to own a stock for ten years, don’t even think about owning it for ten minutes.”
What we are buying is part ownership in a business. That means your purchases are meant to be held for a long time because there will be more wealth created that way, then to make a quick trade.
6. “An investor should act as though he had a lifetime decision card with just twenty punches on it.”
When you are a constant trader of stocks chances are very high that you are not the one who is making money. So do like Buffett says and treat your investing career like you only have a limited number of moves to make.
7. “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”
This is so true. In business, a lot of the outcomes are influenced by reputation. So you better have a good one.
8. “Lose money for the firm, and I will be understanding. Lose a shred of reputation for the firm, and I will be ruthless.”
This is Buffett emphasizing the importance of that reputation.
9. “Predicting rain doesn’t count, building the ark does.”
Everyone can predict a recession but who will be prepared for it when it does happen?
10. “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.”
I tell people this all the time. If your not going to do the research yourself then just by etfs that mimic index funds.
11. “Buy into a company because you want to own it, not because you want the stock to go up.”
One thing I have learned about Buffett is that he really only has a few fundamental principles and all of his quotes are just ways to reinforce those principles.
12. “Never invest in a business you cannot understand.”
Investing 101. If you cannot understand the whole business then you should not risk your money. It is plain and simple.
13. “Buy companies with strong histories of profitability and with a dominant business franchise.”
Here Buffett is hinting at an idea that he refers to as a moat. The dominance of business is what provides that moat.
14. “The most important investment you can make is in yourself.”
Regardless of what it is, it is always best to invest in yourself. Rather that is paying yourself first or going to take some classes to learn some new skills.
15. “In the 20th century, the United States endured two world wars and other traumatic and expensive military conflicts; the Depression; a dozen or so recessions and financial panics; oil shocks; a flu epidemic; and the resignation of a disgraced president. Yet the Dow rose from 66 to 11,497.”
Like Buffett is so famous for saying, if you believe that American Business will thrive over the long term then good solid American business are great places to invest your money.
Warren Buffett has truly proven himself as one of the greatest investors of all time. So it should be considered a blessing for any kind of wisdom that may be shared. Trust me Buffett has learned a lot in his time and because of his lengthy time in the spotlight has resulted in a lot of media coverage of him which has provided us with many insights into his way of thinking.
I look forward to hearing what you think about the Warren Buffett quotes that I decided to include in this blog post. Do you think there is some quotes that should have been added too this list? If so, I would love for you to leave me a comment and let me know.
-Jason from MoreDividends.com
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Quotes are great to help one focus and I used many in my book, but I think you can sum up may which individual investors can apply to their own investments: “Stick to quality over quantity”.
Henry M recently posted…Are you too proud to buy used?
I completely agree. Quality is the most important element. Thanks for stopping by Henry !