Acknowledging what you don't know is the dawning of wisdom.

There has never been a master plan. Anyone who wanted to do it, we fired because it takes on a life of its own and doesn't cover new reality. We want people taking into account new information.

If it is wisdom you're after, you're going to spend a lot of time on your ass reading.

Bernie Ebbers and Ken Lay were caricatures - they were easy to spot. They were almost psychopaths. But it's much harder to spot problems at companies like Royal Dutch [Shell].

We have found in a long life that one competitor is frequently enough to ruin a business.

I think it is undeniably true that the human brain must work in models. The trick is to have your brain work better than the other person's brain because it understands the most fundamental models- ones that will do most work per unit.

I'm a bull on Berkshire Hathaway. There may be some considerable waiting, but I think there are some good days ahead.