# Warren Buffett's best quotes (with sources)

Fearful when others are greedy, swimming naked when the tide goes out and "price is what you pay; value is what you get": the most quoted lines of Warren Buffett, mostly from his letters to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, each with its source.

- 266 votes · 14 items
- Jan 7, 2021 · otaku_nyc
- https://even.best/en/l/5058/warren-buffett-s-best-quotes-with-sources

## Top 14

1. **Try to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy only when others are fearful.** (30 · ▲31 ▼1) — Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter (2004).
2. **You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.** (19 · ▲22 ▼3) — Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter (2001).
3. **Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.** (16 · ▲21 ▼5) — Statement of 1991, quoted in Of Permanent Value (2007).
4. **We don't get paid for activity, just for being right.** (16 · ▲17 ▼1) — Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting (1998).
5. **The stock market serves as a relocation center at which money is moved from the active to the patient.** (16 · ▲17 ▼1) — Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter (1991).
6. **Wall Street is the only place that people ride to work in a Rolls Royce to get advice from those who take the subway.** (13 · ▲16 ▼3) — Quoted in The Money Adventure (1998).
7. **If you're going to be thinking anyway, you might as well think big.** (13 · ▲14 ▼1) — Quoted in Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist (1995).
8. **Price is what you pay; value is what you get.** (12 · ▲17 ▼5) — Quoting Benjamin Graham in the 2008 shareholder letter.
9. **Confidence comes back one at a time, but fear is instantaneous.** (11 · ▲14 ▼3) — Interview on CNBC (2018).
10. **When forced to choose, I will not trade even a night's sleep for the chance of extra profits.** (10 · ▲12 ▼2) — Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter (2008).
11. **It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.** (7 · ▲12 ▼5) — Quoted in Corporate Survival (2005).
12. **Criticize by category — praise by name.** (7 · ▲12 ▼5) — Interview with Becky Quick, CNBC (2019).
13. **Size seems to make many organizations slow-thinking, resistant to change and smug.** (6 · ▲10 ▼4) — Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter (2006).
14. **Love is the greatest advantage a parent can give.** (6 · ▲9 ▼3) — Quoted in Fortune (1986).

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.