I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think. That is very uncommon in American business.

At Berkshire, I both initiate and monitor every derivatives contract on our books ... If Berkshire ever gets in trouble, it will be my fault. It will not be because of the misjudgments made by a risk committee or chief risk officer.

A market downturn, doesn't bother us. For us and our long term investors, it is an opportunity to increase our ownership of great companies with great management at good prices. Only for short term investors and market timers is a correction not an opportunity.

I'd rather have a $10 million business making 15 per cent than a $100 million business making 5 per cent.

Businesses always have opportunities to improve service, product lines, manufacturing techniques, and the like, and obviously these opportunities should be seized. But a business that constantly encounters major change also encounters many chances for major error

You get what I call the natural progression, the three Is. The innovators, the imitators, and the idiots.

With each investment you make, you should have the courage and the conviction to place at least ten per cent of your net worth in that stock