Warren Buffett

"Buy into a business that even a fool can run, because someday a fool will."

"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 it next week."

"If you don't read, you are at a competitive disadvantage."

"Diversification is an old investment principle born out of academic prudence."

"The best protection against inflation is your own earning power."

"We think in terms of business economics and competitive advantage rather than price patterns or technical analysis."

"The best decades to invest are the ones when headlines are the scariest."

"A lot of people are getting wealthy, and you hear it all the time on financial programs, and I'm not dismissing that there are opportunities out there."

"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."

"All the wise men and women in the world will tell you the same thing: the best investment is in yourself."

"Basically, when you get to my age, you'll measure your success in life by how many of the people you want to have love you actually do love you."

"You can't control the length of your life, but you can control the width and the depth."

"The important thing is to keep learning, to enjoy the process, and to never lose your sense of humor."

"The most important thing to do if you find yourself in a hole is to stop digging."

"As an investor, you're looking for situations in which you can put up a little bit and get a lot out."

"I look for three things: first, find a business I understand; second, find competent management; third, find the right price."

"If you have a little bit of intelligence and you work hard, you can accomplish anything."

"Accounting is the language of business."

"Over the long term, it's hard for a stock to earn a much better return than the business which underlies it earns."

"The ability to say no is a tremendous advantage for an investor."

"Young people are doing things and making mistakes and correcting them, all of the time."

"There is absolutely nothing about money that I find interesting."

"The best thing that could happen to us is to be a horse in a good industry."

"That's how the really big money is made—by a distressed sale."

"Stop being too cautious. Reasonable odds mean something very different to different people."

"Once you have it, you want to keep it. The rich are risk-averse."

"A pension fund is a wonderful thing, but understand what you own."

"Reading is crucial—I never have seen a leader that isn't a voracious reader."

"The difference between what we have and what we need is not very great."

"With a normal stock, something that can go down or up, you get to decide what's happening in that company and what its value is."