We can afford to lose money - even a lot of money. But we can't afford to lose reputation - even a shred of reputation.

The same things happen to quite an extent around the globe. I mean, the European banks were doing what the American banks were.

I always knew I was going to be rich. I don't think I ever doubted it for a minute.

Consciously paying more for a stock than its calculated value - in the hope that it can soon be sold for a still-higher price - should be labelled speculation

Too often, executive compensation in the U.S. is ridiculously out of line with performance. That won't change, moreover, because the deck is stacked against investors when it comes to the CEO's pay.

I can do anything I want, basically, as long as it doesn't involve athletic ability, or something like that.

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.