I think that intelligent forecasting (company revenues, earnings, etc.) should not seek to predict what will in fact happen in the future. Its purpose ought to be to illuminate the road, to point out obstacles and potential pitfalls and so assist management to tailor events and to bend them in a desired direction. Forecasting should be used as a device to put both problems and opportunities into perspective. It is a management tool, but it can never be a substitute for strategy, nor should it ever be used as the primary basis for portfolio investment decisions.

We always look at the margin of safety in the balance sheet and then worry about the business.

Long term debt and bank debt (including off-balance sheet financing must be judiciously employed. There must be room to expand the debt position if required.

I bought stuff at 3.5 cents once and I thought it can’t go down to zero. It can.

You find bargains among the unpopular things, the things that everybody hates. The key is that you must have patience.

I’m lucky to have the kind of life where the differentiation between work and play is absolutely zilch. I have no idea whether I’m working or whether I’m playing.

Just as many smart people fail in the investment business as stupid ones. Intellectually active people are particularly attracted to elegant concepts, which can have the effect of distracting them from the simpler, more fundamental truths.