Political Acts As Well…

“Contemplating any business act, an employee should ask himself whether he would be willing to see it immediately described by an informed and critical reporter on the front page of his local paper; there to be read by his spouse, children and friends.”

        — Warren Buffett    Read more »

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“Remaining Awake During a Revolution”

Martin Luther King gave a speech with that title on October 29, 1967 at Grinnell College in Iowa. 

A quote from that speech, echoing a theme that also appears in several other sermons and addresses by the civil rights leader, is the coda of a recent Time cover story on Warren Buffett.    Read more »

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Money Doesn’t Make the Man

“Of the billionaires I have known, money just brings out the basic traits in them. If they were jerks before they had money, they are simply jerks with a billion dollars.”

                                                         — Warren Buffett    Read more »

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Sage Advice from the Oracle of Omaha

“Rule No. 1: Never lose money.

“Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No. 1”

                                                  — Warren Buffett    Read more »

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The Oracle of Omaha in Berkshire Hathaway’s Annual Report

“Throughout my lifetime, politicians and pundits have constantly moaned about terrifying problems facing America. Yet our citizens now live an astonishing six times better than when I was born.

“The prophets of doom have overlooked the all-important factor that is certain: Human potential is far from exhausted and the American system for unleashing that potential — a system that has worked wonders for over two centuries despite frequent interruptions for recessions and even a Civil War — remains alive and effective.    Read more »

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Many Happy Returns to Warren Buffett on His 80th Birthday

This from the Wall Street Journal:

Warren Buffett turns 80 years old today, and he isn’t slowing down a bit. Instead, he is likely to take on more work in the coming year while the ball starts rolling on his closely guarded succession plan.

Back in February 2007, the chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway said in his annual shareholder letter that his expected life span was about 12 more years, suggesting he should be around at least until age 88.    Read more »

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Buffett — The Economy and the U.S. Housing Market’s Future

“There hasn’t been a big pickup in the housing market. That’s the best news you can have.

“If you have too many houses in relation to households you want to stop creating houses for awhile. If you have an excess inventory of purple dresses at the end of the fashion season, you mark them down.    Read more »

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Warren Buffett Discusses Greece and Its Credit Problems

“If you’re some South American country, you can’t print dollars. Greece —  they are a sovereign country in terms of their budget but they can’t print their own currency. They’ve got the Euro. You may be seeing sort of a test case play out here of a country that’s not using its own currency — in effect it’s using a common currency — yet it’s sovereign in making its own promises to its citizens.    Read more »

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Warren Buffett and Charles Munger on California’s Prospects

Asked at a May 2, 2010 press conference the day following the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in Omaha Nebraska, Warren Buffett and his business partner, California resident Charles Munger, were asked a question about the Golden State.

The thrust of the question centered on however California goes, so goes the nation.    Read more »

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Ever Quick with a Quip…

“That’s one of the best questions I’ve ever heard.”

— Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders Meeting , May 1, 2010 responding to a German shareholder thanking him for, through acquiring Burlington Northern, “taking the future of American railroads into your gifted hands.”

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“You have to call us Great Uncle.”

To a girl from Los Angeles who called Buffett and his business partner, Charlie Munger,  ‘Uncle’ because she said that is the custom for children to refer to their elders in India, where her parents come from.    Read more »

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