Whatever you like to do, make it a hobby and whatever the world likes to do, make it a business.

Tell me your heroes and I'll tell you how your life will end up

I knew a lot about what I did when I was 20. I had read a lot, and I aspired to learn everything I could about the subject.

So if you are evaluating others (or yourself!) in the investment field, think out some standards - apply them - interpret them.

America should stand for more than just wealth.

That's been lost. It's a huge problem. What you have is you have the major institutions of the world all wanting to deleverage. They want to take down their assets and liabilities. What seemed so easy to borrow against a year ago now looks like rat poison to them. So they're trying to deleverage. There is only one institution in the world that can leverage up in a way that's all a countervailing force to that, and that's the United States Treasury.

So some guy may know how to make money in cocoa beans, but I don't so I just let him have that. But it's got to be something I understand. It's got to be a business with fundamentally good economics. It's got to be a management that I like and trust and admire. And it's got to be a price that makes sense.