It takes character to sit there with all that cash and do nothing. I didn't get to where I am by going after mediocre opportunities.

As I talk about strengths and weaknesses in academic economics, one interesting fact you are entitled to know is that I never took a course in economics. And with this striking lack of credentials, you may wonder why I have the chutzpah to be up here giving this talk. The answer is I have a black belt in chutzpah. I was born with it.

Why should it be easy to do something that, if done well, two or three times, will make your family rich for life?

There's no way that you can live an adequate life without making many mistakes.

Capitalism is a pretty brutal place.

Let me know what your problem is, and I will try to make it more difficult for you.

If you have only a little capital and are young today, there are fewer opportunities than when I was young. Back then, we had just come out of a depression. Capitalism was a bad word. There had been abuses in the 1920s. A joke going around then was the guy who said, 'I bought stock for my old age and it worked - in six months, I feel like an old man!' "It's tougher for you, but that doesn't mean you won't do well - it just may take more time. But what the heck, you may live longer."