I mean, you may be very mad at some guy that walked away with a huge golden parachute, but that really isn't the important thing.

I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think. That is very uncommon in American business. I read and think. So I do more reading and thinking, and make less impulse decisions than most people in business. I do it because I like this kind of life.

For some reason people take their cues from price action rather than from values. Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.

[The U.S. Treasury] can borrow basically unlimited amounts. They can stay there for years and years. These assets will be worth more money over time. So when Merrill Lynch sells a bunch of mortgage-related assets at 22 cents on the dollar like they did a month or so ago, the buyer goes - is going to make money, and he's going to make a lot more money if it happens to be an institution like the U.S. government which has very, very cheap borrowing costs.

Time is your friend, impulse is your enemy. Take advantage of compound interest and don't be captivated by the siren song of the market.

The .350 hitter expects, and also deserves, a big payoff for his performance - even if he plays for a cellar-dwelling team. And a .150 hitter should get no reward - even if he plays for a pennant winner.

I would say the biggest single cause was we had an incredible residential real estate bubble.