The Noah rule: Predicting rain doesn't count; building arks does.

A newspaper that reduces its coverage of the news important to its community is certain to reduce its readership as well

It will be good for us in the long run, and I mean there are, you know, six and a half billion people in this world. And it's great for 300 million to keep enjoying more and more property, but I think it's terrific if, you know, the remainder do.

Investment philosophy is the clear understanding that by owning shares of stocks he owns businesses, not pieces of paper.

Lethargy bordering on sloth remains the cornerstone of our investment style. The exception was Wells Fargo, a superbly-managed, high-return banking operation in which we increased our ownership to just under 10%, the most we can own without the approval of the Federal Reserve Board.

Intensity is the price of excellence.

It takes 150 years to build an investment bank and only five minutes to convince you to sell me preferred stock in it at a 10% interest rate.