Warren Buffett is the richest man in the world. He has a net worth of over $104.9 billion, making him one of the wealthiest people in history. His company Berkshire Hathaway owns companies like Dairy Queen and Duracell batteries.
On August 30th, 1930, he was born into wealth to Howard Homan Buffett and Leila Stahl Buffett. Warren’s father was an American stockbroker who eventually became chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Corporation, while his mother was a homemaker until she died when he was only 19 years old.
In high school, he excelled at sports, including baseball, football, tennis, and golf, but he did not graduate from college because he wanted to go straight into business rather than study for four years. In 1942, Warren Buffett was the youngest to serve on the New York Stock Exchange. He started his own brokerage company in 1951 with $100 from earnings from a summer job and a loan of $9500.
In this blog post, we look at some famous quotes from Warren Buffett and implement them in different aspects of our lives.
1. “Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget rule No. 1.”
If you want to be a successful investor or entrepreneur, Warren Buffet’s quote about not losing money is probably the most important quote you can put into practice.
2. “It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.”
Warren Buffett always looks for great companies with the best possible management team to invest in. However, when it comes to investing, you need to know what you’re doing instead of merely gambling your money away.
3. “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”
Warren Buffett always looks at a company’s intrinsic value instead of just its price tag. You can have something that has a high price, but if it doesn’t have any real value, it’s not worth much in your hands.
4. “Only buy something that you’d be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for ten years.”
Warren Buffett bought Berkshire Hathaway in 1964 at $18 per share. Had he stuck with his plan, he would be sitting on $180,000 now. Even though this is an extraordinary gain, it doesn’t even come close to an index fund that has returned around 7% year on year.
5. “If you are in a poker game and after 20 minutes you don’t know who the patsy is, then you’re the patsy.”
If you don’t have any idea what’s going on around you or what’s happening in the market, Warren Buffett says that you should probably get out of the game. While it can be hard to know what’s going on all the time, you should at least have a general sense of what’s happening in your areas of expertise.
6. “Risk comes from not knowing what you are doing.”
When it comes to investing, Warren Buffett says that many people don’t realize how much risk they are taking when they make risky investments. Of course, the risk is inevitable when you invest in the stock market, but if you don’t have a plan or know what you are doing, then your chances of losing money increase exponentially.
7. “I try to buy stock in businesses that are so wonderful that an idiot can run them. Because sooner or later, one will.”
Warren Buffett looks for companies that are successful now and will remain successful in the future. You need to know how the business works and the people behind it if you want to invest with your head instead of your heart.
8. “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.”
People start worrying about their investments during a bear market and may even panic. Warren Buffett realizes that this is the best time to buy into great companies because everyone is selling. If you still think that’s a good idea, look at our article on How to Invest During A Bear Market.
9. “It’s only when the tide goes out that you learn who’s been swimming naked.”
During a bear market or recession, you will see which companies struggle to survive and still make strong profits. Instead of panicking as everyone else does, Warren Buffett likes to use this time to invest in good companies that aren’t overvalued by the market because they’re not as attractive when the market is down.
10. “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”
Warren Buffett believes in buying into a company when no one else wants it and selling when everyone wants it because that’s where the money can be made. So when great companies are undervalued, Warren Buffett takes advantage of the opportunity to invest more than he normally would.
11. “The first rule of investing is don’t lose money; the second rule is don’t forget Rule No. 1.”
Warren Buffett likes to invest in good, solid businesses with strong management so that he can sleep well at night knowing that his investments are safe and sound. If you want some help finding great companies to invest in, look at our article on The 21 Best Websites For Value Investors.
12. “Only buy something that you’d be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for ten years.”
While Warren Buffett is looking for companies with strong long-term potential, he never wants his investments to start losing money right away or even soon after. This is one of the reasons he invests mainly in businesses and not stocks because a company’s stock price can change at any time, but Warren Buffett knows that a good business will be successful for years to come.
13. “We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful.”
Warren Buffett likes to invest in great businesses when everyone is scared and running away from the stock market or individual stocks. When times are tough, you should be buying good companies with strong potential at a discounted price; Warren Buffett doesn’t make his investments when everything seems perfect because he knows that’s exactly when everyone else will start dumping their stocks.
14. “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.”
Warren Buffett looks for great companies with strong management teams so that he knows they will be around for years to come. Therefore, he doesn’t want to invest in companies that are overvalued by the market but rather in undervalued ones because their potential has yet to be realized.
15. “I don’t look to jump over 7-foot bars: I look around for 1-foot bars that I can step over.”
Warren Buffett wants to invest in companies with great short-term potential and strong management teams, so when the company does start succeeding, he knows it will still have good management running the show.
16. “Only buy something that you’d be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for ten years.”
Warren Buffett likes to invest in great, well-run companies with long-term potential and strong management because he knows that’s where the real money is made. So when everyone else is panicked over a drop in the market, that’s when Warren Buffett steps up to the plate and starts buying.
17. “It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.”
Warren Buffett looks for companies with strong management teams, so he knows they will take his investments and turn them into strong returns. Warren Buffett doesn’t invest in good companies that the market hasn’t caught onto yet because he knows they’ll eventually catch up to them, and then their stock prices will increase.