In a difficult business, no sooner is one problem solved than another surfaces - never is there just one cockroach in the kitchen.

I bought a company in the mid-90s called Dexter Shoe and paid $400 million for it. And it went to zero. And I gave about $400 million worth of Berkshire stock, which is probably now worth $400 billion. But I've made lots of dumb decisions. That's part of the game.

We have a country where I don't know whether it's a million households a year or more, but good form.

If horses had controlled investment decisions, there would have been no auto industry.

The truth is, everything that has happened in my life... that I thought was a crushing event at the time, has turned out for the better.

What an investor needs is the ability to correctly evaluate selected businesses. Note that word “selected”: You don't have to be an expert on every company, or even many. You only have to be able to evaluate companies within your circle of competence. The size of that circle is not very important; knowing its boundaries, however, is vital.

We would do best in a market where everyone acted foolishly.