The critical investment factor is determining the intrinsic value of a business and paying a fair or bargain price.

Good big decisions do not take time at all, if they do you are in trouble.

Intrinsic value can be defined simply: It is the discounted value of the cash that can be taken out of a business during its remaining life. The calculation of intrinsic value, though, is not so simple. As our definition suggests, intrinsic value is an estimate rather than a precise figure, and it is additionally an estimate that must be changed if interest rates move or forecasts of future cash flows are revised.

Our goal is to find an outstanding business at a sensible price, not a mediocre business at a bargain price.

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

Our approach is very much profiting from lack of change rather than from change. With Wrigley chewing gum, it's the lack of change that appeals to me. I don't think it is going to be hurt by the Internet. That's the kind of business I like.

Outstanding long-term results are produced primarily by avoiding dumb decisions, rather than by making brilliant ones.