Warren Buffett's best quotes (with sources)
The top 3 according to 266 votes from people: Try to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy only when others are fearful. · You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out. · Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.. (Updated Jan 7, 2021.)
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.
Top 14
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1
Try to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy only when others are fearful.
Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter (2004).
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2
You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.
Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter (2001).
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3
Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.
Statement of 1991, quoted in Of Permanent Value (2007).
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4
We don't get paid for activity, just for being right.
Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting (1998).
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5
The stock market serves as a relocation center at which money is moved from the active to the patient.
Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter (1991).
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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.
Quoted in The Money Adventure (1998).
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7
If you're going to be thinking anyway, you might as well think big.
Quoted in Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist (1995).
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8
Price is what you pay; value is what you get.
Quoting Benjamin Graham in the 2008 shareholder letter.
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9
Confidence comes back one at a time, but fear is instantaneous.
Interview on CNBC (2018).
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10
When forced to choose, I will not trade even a night's sleep for the chance of extra profits.
Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter (2008).
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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.
Quoted in Corporate Survival (2005).
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12
Criticize by category — praise by name.
Interview with Becky Quick, CNBC (2019).
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13
Size seems to make many organizations slow-thinking, resistant to change and smug.
Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter (2006).
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14
Love is the greatest advantage a parent can give.
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.
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Comments (2)
The swimming naked one aged really well after 2008. Nobody explains risk better in one sentence.
"Criticize by category, praise by name" is the best management advice I've ever gotten and it's not even about investing.