100+ Berkshire Hathaway Quotes: Timeless Wisdom from Warren Buffett

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

"Price is what you pay. Value is what you get."

"Our favorite holding period is forever."

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

"The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient."

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

"It’s not how big companies will be, but how profitable they become that counts."

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

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

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

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

"The best investment you can make is in yourself."

"It's better to buy a great business at a fair price than a fair business at a great price."

"Look at market fluctuations as your friend rather than your enemy."

"You don't need to be a rocket scientist. Investing is not a game where the guy with the 160 IQ beats the guy with the 130 IQ."

"What counts in investing is not how much he knows, but rather how realistically he assesses what he doesn't know."

"A public-opinion poll is no substitute for thought."

"Time is the friend of the wonderful business, the enemy of the mediocre."

"The goal of the non-professional should not be to pick winners but to own a cross-section of businesses that in aggregate are outstanding."

"Buy into a company because you want to own it, not because you want the stock to go up."

"It's essential to have a temperament that doesn't get swayed by market emotions."

"Focus on the future productivity of the asset you are considering."

"The intelligent investor is a realist who sells to optimists and buys from pessimists."

"Never invest in a business you cannot understand."

"Hiring is the most important managerial decision we make."

"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it."

"We look for three things when hiring people. Intelligence, energy, and integrity. And if they don't have the last one, the first two will kill you."

"Our goal is to make our shareholders feel like partners in a family business."

"Delegate everything except hiring and capital allocation."

"We don't solve problems by moving money around; we solve them by running good businesses."

"The chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken."

"We try to hire people who would work hard even if they didn't need the money."

"Good managers act like owners, even if they’re not."

"Keep things simple and don't swing at every pitch."

"We avoid projects that rely on perfect execution."

"Managers should think like owners, communicate openly, and act with integrity."

"When you see bad behavior among executives, it's usually because the CEO has set the wrong tone."

"The most important thing I look for in a manager is integrity."

"You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, no matter how good the accountants are."

"If you lose money for the firm, I will understand. If you lose reputation, I will be furious."

"The harder I work, the more luck I seem to have."

"Success in investing doesn't correlate with IQ once you're above the level of 125. What matters is temperament."

"It takes integrity, brains, and energy to run a business well. But if you don't have integrity, the other two will kill you."

"I try to do things that make my country prouder and my parents proud."

"The reputation of a thousand years may be determined by the conduct of one hour."

"Trust is the most important thing in business."

"Don't risk what you have and need for what you don't have and don't need."

"How other people behave tells you nothing about how you should."

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

"If you aren't willing to own a stock for ten years, don't even think about owning it for ten minutes."

"The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient."

"We love businesses that are forever."

"Short-term market movements are meaningless to us."

"We measure our success not by quarterly results but by decade-long progress."

"Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world."

"The stock market is designed to transfer money from the active to the patient."

"Time is the ally of the wonderful company."

"We prefer businesses that generate cash for decades, not quarters."

"Patience pays off in both investing and life."

"We ignore macro forecasts because we focus on micro realities."

"Do not save what is left after spending; instead spend what is left after saving."

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

"Know what you know and know what you don't know."

"If you spend more than you make, you're living on borrowed time."

"The biggest risk is not knowing what you're doing."

"Wall Street is the only place people ride to in a Rolls Royce to get advice from those who take the subway."

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

"It's not necessary to do extraordinary things to get extraordinary results."

"Avoid debt like the plague if you want financial freedom."

"The most important line on a financial statement is honesty."

"Complexity is the enemy of good decision-making."

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication in finance."

"The most important investment you can make is in yourself."

"Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken."

"It's better to hang out with people better than you."

"Pound the table only when you really mean it."

"You can't produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant."

"The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything."

"Live below your means, save, and invest wisely."

"The best thing I've ever done is choose the right heroes."

"If you can't find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die."

"Honesty is a very expensive gift. Don't expect it from cheap people."

"The size of your income is less important than how you use it."

"Your reputation is your greatest asset."

"The stock market is filled with individuals who know the price of everything and the value of nothing."

"Investors should remember that excitement and expenses are their enemies."

"The market is a pendulum that forever swings between unsustainable optimism and unjustified pessimism."

"Fear is what creates opportunity."

"People get terribly excited about what the stock did yesterday and forget to ask what the business did."

"The four most dangerous words in investing: 'This time it's different.'"

"Markets will go up and down, but America progresses."

"Emotional involvement leads to poor investment decisions."

"Speculation is most dangerous when it looks easiest."

"Crowds are not entitled to earn above-average returns."

"The investor's chief problem—and even his worst enemy—is likely to be himself."

"Rationality is essential; emotion is destructive."

"The key to investing is determining the competitive advantage of a company—and above all, the durability of that advantage."

"A truly great business must have an enduring 'moat' that protects excellent economics."

"We love businesses surrounded by a wide, sustainable moat."

"The best businesses have pricing power due to brand strength or customer captivity."

"Moats are what allow businesses to earn high returns on capital for decades."

"We look for companies that can keep competitors at bay."

"Scale, brand, switching costs, and network effects create unassailable advantages."

"A strong brand is a powerful moat."

"The goal is to find companies with monopolistic characteristics."

"Without a moat, profits get competed away."

"We pay up for moats because they justify premium valuations."

"A narrow moat isn't enough—we want fortress-like durability."

"If you're in the luckiest 1% of humanity, you owe it to the rest of society to share your fortune."

"My wealth has come from being born in America, some lucky genes, and compound interest."

"I want to give my kids enough so that they can do anything, but not so much that they do nothing."

"The best way to find happiness is to stop worrying about money and start giving it away."

"Giving while living is more fun than writing checks from the grave."

"Rich people should leave their heirs enough to do anything, but not enough to do nothing."

"I'm just the guy who collects the money and gives it to smarter people to invest."

"Money is a tool, not a trophy."

"True wealth is measured by the lives you touch."

"Philanthropy isn't about tax breaks; it's about impact."

"The rich have a duty to redistribute wisely."

"Legacy isn't about how much you accumulate, but how much you give back."