If you get to my age in life and nobody thinks well of you, I don't care how big your bank account is, your life is a disaster.

I could end the deficit in 5 minutes. You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP all sitting members of congress are ineligible for reelection.

Charlie and I decided long ago that in an investment lifetime, it's too hard to make hundreds of smart decisions. That judgment became ever more compelling as Berkshire's capital mushroomed and the universe of investments that could significantly affect our results shrank dramatically. Therefore, we adopted a strategy that required our being smart and not too smart at that, only a very few times. Indeed, we now settle for one good idea a year.

If you have a harem of 40 women, you never get to know any of them very well.

I try to buy stock in businesses that are so wonderful that an idiot can run them. Because sooner or later, one will.

Valuing a business is part art and part science.

We've used derivatives for many, many years. I don't think derivatives are evil, per se, I think they are dangerous.