On the Shoulders of the Oracle: 20 Warren Buffett Quotes
He is always near the top of the list for being one of the richest people in the world, but that is not the reason I have an immense amount of respect and admiration for him. I am talking about none other than the great Warren Buffett, also known as ‘the Oracle of Omaha’. My admiration for him is not due to the incredible fortune he has amassed over the years. Instead, there are a couple other reasons I admire him – the first being what he has done with his fortune, and the second being the incredible wisdom he possesses. In this post, we will explore both. First, we will analyze his wisdom in the form of some of his best quotes. We will then look at what he has done with his fortune – including a personal story from an encounter that a good friend of mine had with him.
Let’s start with 20 of my favorite Warren Buffett quotes and what we can do to make them actionable in our lives:
(1) “I always knew I was going to be rich. I don’t think I ever doubted it for a minute.”
Part of the reason for Buffett’s success is that he believes in himself, as do most successful people.
Make it actionable: To be successful you need to have an unwavering belief in yourself.
(2) “There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult.”
Many times, we make things more complicated than they need to be.
Make it actionable: Keep things in your life as simple as possible.
(3) “You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong.”
Focus on doing the few things in your life that will make the greatest impact.
Make it actionable: First, make sure you are doing the right things, then make sure you are doing them right. Buffett recommends making a list of the top 25 things you want to accomplish, rank them, eliminate the bottom 20 and then focus on the top 5.
(4) “Imagine that you had a car and that was the only car you’d have for your entire lifetime. Of course, you’d care for it well, changing the oil more frequently than necessary, driving carefully, etc. Now, consider that you only have one mind and one body. Prepare them for life, care for them. You can enhance your mind over time. A person’s main asset is themselves, so preserve and enhance yourself.”
If you don’t have your health and your well-being, you have nothing.
Make it actionable: Take time every day to sharpen your saw by improving the physical, mental, spiritual and social/emotional dimensions of your life.
(5) “Writing a check separates a commitment from a conversation.”
Someone who writes a check shows they are committed by putting skin in the game or ‘by putting their money where their mouth is’.
Make it actionable: When working with someone on something it is usually a good practice to make sure both sides have skin in the game, or something at stake to make sure they are fully committed, as I wrote about in a previous post.
(6) “Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”
What you do today will impact your future.
Make it actionable: Do things today that will positively impact your future self and future life, as well as the life of others.
(7) “It’s better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours and you’ll drift in that direction.”
We are positively influenced by people who are more successful than we are in different areas of life.
Make it actionable: Surround yourself with people who will have a positive influence on your life.
(8) “No matter how great the talent or efforts, some things take time. You can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.”
Great things don’t happen overnight, we need to be patient and persistent.
Make it actionable: Be persistent and chip away at your goals and believe one day you are going to get there.
(9) “Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks.”
While being persistent is an admirable quality, sometimes you need to cut your losses and change course. This is the principle of sunk cost fallacy that we discussed in a previous post. Don’t throw good money after bad money to try to save the day.
Make it actionable: To quote an old Kenny Rogers song, “know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away, know when to run!”. Sometimes we need to stop, evaluate what we are doing and then go in a new direction.
(10) “If a business does well, the stock eventually follows.”
The price of a stock only does well if the business is well run – so focus on running the business well and the stock price will take care of itself.
Make it actionable: In our lives, focus on the process to get the desired results. The rest will take care of itself.
(11) “You’ve gotta keep control of your time, and you can’t unless you say no. You can’t let people set your agenda in life.”
Being able to say “no” helps preserve the most valuable asset we have: our time.
Make it actionable: Be able to say “no” without feeling guilty, that way you can say “yes” to opportunities that add value. This will allow you to spend time on the critical few things that will get you closer to achieving your goal. As Derek Sivers says, it’s either “hell yeah” or “no”.
(12) “If you buy things you do not need, soon you will have to sell things you need.”
Wasting money on too many things you don’t need will cause you to have to eventually liquidate assets to make up for your previous financial indiscretions.
Make it actionable: Spend your money and time wisely!
(13) “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.”
Money means nothing if people think you are a jerk.
Make it actionable: Be kind to others, help people, and try to make the world a better place.
(14) “Opportunities come infrequently. When it rains gold, put out the bucket, not the thimble”
When opportunities present themselves be ready to act.
Make it actionable: Always be prepared, preparation will enable you to take advantage of opportunities that come your way. Be ready to open the door when opportunity knocks.
(15) “I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think. That is very uncommon in American business. I read and think. So I do more reading and thinking, and make less impulse decisions than most people in business.”
Sometimes we run around like chickens with our heads cut off without taking time to sit back and look at the big picture.
Make it actionable: Take time every day to just sit and think and ‘conceptualize’ as Howie’s Dad used to say. You will be amazed at how making this part of your daily routine will positively impact your life.
(16) “Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing.”
You can minimize the risks in your life by really understanding what you are doing and what you are engaging in.
Make it actionable: Taking time to study and know as much as possible before making decisions or getting involved in things will minimize the risk(s) you face.
(17) “What we learn from history is that people don’t learn from history.”
Most people make the same mistakes over and over.
Make it actionable: Take the time to learn from your mistakes so you don’t keep on making them. One tool you can use is an after action review – which we discussed in a recent post.
(18) “…not doing what we love in the name of greed is very poor management of our lives.”
Many people do things based on money alone and end up feeling unhappy and unfulfilled rather than doing something they love.
Make it actionable: Be wary of trading time for money, instead, try to do something you love.
(19) “If you’re in the luckiest 1% of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99%.”
Not everyone is as fortunate as we are, it is important to help others.
Make it actionable: Give to others. And I don’t just mean monetarily, giving your time to mentor someone is another great way to give back.
(20) “You can’t make a good deal with a bad person.”
Be careful of who you associate with.
Make it actionable: Honesty and integrity are two of the most important traits anyone can have and important ones to look for in those we have relationships with.
Why I Admire Him
As I said earlier, the second reason I really admire Mr. Buffett is what he has chosen to do with the fortune he has amassed. Buffett has pledged to give away the majority of his fortune, most of it to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
As for the personal encounter a good friend of mine had with Buffett. Back in the early 2000s, my friend who lived in Omaha at the time was stopped at a stop light in downtown Omaha. He happened to glance over to the car in his left, which was a beat-up old station wagon. He did a quick double take as the light went green and realized that the driver was none other than…the Oracle of Omaha himself!
Until next time, keep learning from the great ones, and as always…PYMFP!
–Rick
When to Use It:
Use these Warren Buffett quotes anytime in your life that it makes sense.
What Do You Think of These Warren Buffett Quotes?
Do you have any other favorite Warren Buffett quotes? What do you think of these Warren Buffett quotes? Please share in the comments below!
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References
https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/warren_buffett
Love these quotes! Thanks Rick.
Thanks and thanks for reading.
Rick – you are on a roll here. (2) describes Joan perfectly. If she has a choice between the hare way and the easy way, she will always choose the hard way. And she knows it! It’s her only character fault.
(14) is a variant on my main guiding principle – If an opportunity presents itself, don’t flip it the finger.
More Buffet quotes – https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/warren_buffett
Thanks, Dave. If that is your CYTs worst character flaw I would say she is doing just fine! Thanks for the quotes, some more good ones from WB in there. This one made me laugh – “I buy expensive suits. They just look cheap on me.” Too funny! Have a great weekend, Rick