The managers at fault periodically report on the lesson they have learned from the latest disappointment. They then usually seek out future lessons.

The most common cause of low prices is pessimism - some times pervasive, some times specific to a company or industry. We want to do business in such an environment, not because we like pessimism but because we like the prices it produces. It's optimism that is the enemy of the rational buyer.

Americans are in a cycle of fear which leads to people not wanting to spend and not wanting to make investments, and that leads to more fear. We'll break out of it. It takes time.

I mean [Franklin Delano] Roosevelt didn't - you know, when he came in, he didn't print any money.

Working with people who cause your stomach to churn seems much like marrying for money - probably a bad idea under any circumstances, but absolute madness if you are already rich.

A contrarian approach is just as foolish as a follow-the-crowd strategy. What's required is thinking rather than polling.

Investors making purchases in an overheated market need to recognize that it may often take an extended period for the value of even an outstanding company to catch up with the price they paid.