I hated discussing ideas with investors, because then I become a Defender of the Idea, and that influences your thought process.

I don't believe anything unless I understand it inside out. And even if I understand something, it is not uncommon that I disagree with accepted view (even if it's a Nobel laureate).

The late 90s almost forced me to identify myself as a value investor, because I thought what everybody else was doing was insane.

It is ludicrous to believe that asset bubbles can only be recognized in hindsight.

I didn't offer transparency. I provided one quarterly report in letter form. That was all you got. I basically demanded that if you're going to invest in my fund you need to accept my terms. The terms not being super highs, but just, I'm not going to cater to you.

In essence, the stock market represents three separate categories of business. They are, adjusted for inflation, those with shrinking intrinsic value, those with approximately stable intrinsic value, and those with steadily growing intrinsic value. The preference, always, would be to buy a long-term franchise at a substantial discount from growing intrinsic value.

I just really like to find my own ideas.