Here are the 21 most brilliantquotes from Warren Buffett, the world's most famous and successful investor
Ethel Jiang
Carlos Barria / Reuters
Here are 21 of the most interesting quotes from the"Oracle of Omaha."
'Only buy something that you’d beperfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years'
'Don't watch the market closely'
"Don't watch the market closely," Buffett saidduring a wild bout of market volatility back in 2016.
He continued: "If they're trying to buy and sellstocks, and worry when they go down a little bit … and think they should maybesell them when they go up, they're not going to have very good results."
'I always knew I was going to be rich'
"I always knew I was going to be rich," hesaid. "I don't think I ever doubted it for a minute."
'Someone’s sitting in the shade todaybecause someone planted a tree a long time ago'
'I read and think'
"I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost everyday, to just sit and think," he said.
He continued: "That is very uncommon in Americanbusiness. I read and think. So I do more reading and thinking, and make lessimpulse decisions than most people in business."
'Risk comes from not knowing whatyou're doing'
'You only have to do a very few thingsright in your life so long as you don't do too many things wrong'
I'll give my children 'enough money sothat they would feel they could do anything, but not so much that they could donothing'
The perfect amount to leave to your kids, he told Fortunein 1986, is "enough money so that they would feel they could do anything,but not so much that they could do nothing."
'The light can at any time go fromgreen to red without pausing at yellow'
"When major declines occur, they offer extraordinaryopportunities to those who are not handicapped by debt," Buffett wrote ina letter to Berkshire Hathaway's shareholders in 2017, highlighting theargument against ever borrowing money to buy stocks. He continued: "No one can tell you when these willhappen. The light can at any time go from green to red without pausing atyellow."
'It takes 20 years to build areputation and 5 minutes to ruin it'
'You cannot make a good deal with a badperson'
"You cannot make a good deal with a badperson," Buffett reportedly told Suzy Welch, a bestselling managementauthor and CNBC contributor. She told CNBC it was Buffett who gave her the careeradvice that has helped her more than any other wisdom she's received.
'Whether we’re talking about socks orstocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down'
Only invest in 'simple businesses' thatyou understand
In his 2014 letter to shareholders, Buffett laid out six criteria he applied tomeasure a company's fundamentals. One criterion is that he only invests in"simple businesses." "If there's lots of technology, we won't understandit," he said
'Stocks [have] been so much moreattractive than bonds'
"The one thing I'm sure of is that overtime, stocksfrom this level will beat bonds from this level," Buffett told CNBC's"Squawk Box" October 2017. "Stocks [have] been so much moreattractive than bonds for a long time now."
'Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No.2: Don't forget rule No. 1'
'The difference between successfulpeople and really successful people is that really successful people say no toalmost everything'
'In the business world, the rear-viewmirror is always clearer than the windshield'
'It's better to hang out with peoplebetter than you'
'Cryptocurrencies will come to badendings'
"Cryptocurrencies will come to bad endings,"Buffett said in Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting in 2018. "There'snothing being produced in the way of value from the asset."
He continued: "It's something where people who areof less-than-stellar character see an opportunity to clip people who weretrying to get rich because their neighbor's getting rich buying this stuffneither one of them understands."
'Price is what you pay. Value is whatyou get'
'Only when the tide goes out do youdiscover who is swimming naked'