This is the most important thing

"Rule No. 1: never lose money; rule No. 2: don't forget rule No. 1"

Source: The Tao of Warren Buffett

Be greedy when others are fearful

"Investors should remember that excitement and expenses are their enemies. And if they insist on trying to time their participation in equities, they should try to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy only when others are fearful."

Source: Letter to shareholders, 2004

Beware when investing turns into speculating

"The line separating investment and speculation, which is never bright and clear, becomes blurred still further when most market participants have recently enjoyed triumphs. Nothing sedates rationality like large doses of effortless money. After a heady experience of that kind, normally sensible

The company is more important than price

"It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price."

Source: Letter to shareholders, 1989

Don't swing at everything

"The stock market is a no-called-strike game. You don't have to swing at everything--you can wait for your pitch. The problem when you're a money manager is that your fans keep yelling, 'Swing, you bum!'"

Source: The Tao of Warren Buffett viaEngineeringnews.com

On Wall Street advice

"Wall Street is the only place that people ride to in a Rolls-Royce to get advice from those who take the subway."

Source: The Tao of Warren Buffett

Price and value are not the same

"Long ago, Ben Graham taught me that 'Price is what you pay; value is what you get.' Whether we’re talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down."

Source: Letter to shareholders, 2008

No need to be a genius

"You don't need to be a rocket scientist. Investing is not a game where the guy with the 160 IQ beats the guy with 130 IQ."

Source: Warren Buffet Speaks, viamsnbc.msn

If Newton had a "Fourth" Law of Motion...

"Long ago, Sir Isaac Newton gave us three laws of motion, which were the work of genius. But Sir Isaac’s talents didn’t extend to investing: He lost a bundle in the South Sea Bubble, explaining later, “I can calculate the movement of the stars, but not the madness of men.” If he had not been traumatized by this loss, Sir Isaac might well have gone on to discover the Fourth Law of Motion: For investors as a whole, returns decrease as motion increases."

Source: Letters to shareholders, 2005

Bad things aren't obvious when times are good

"After all, you only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out."

Source: Letter to shareholders, 2001

Forever is a good holding period

"When we own portions of outstanding businesses with outstanding managements, our favorite holding period is forever."

Source: Letter to shareholders, 1988

Lack of change is a good thing

"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."

Source: Businessweek, 1999

Time is good only for some

"Time is the friend of the wonderful business, the enemy of the mediocre."

Source: Letters to shareholders 1989

The best time to buy a company

"The best thing that happens to us is when a great company gets into temporary trouble...We want to buy them when they're on the operating table."

Source: Businessweek, 1999

Choose sleep over extra profit

"I have pledged – to you, the rating agencies and myself – to always run Berkshire with more than ample cash. We never want to count on the kindness of strangers in order to meet tomorrow’s obligations. When forced to choose, I will not trade even a night’s sleep for the chance of extra profits."

 Source: Letter to shareholders, 2008

Every company will eventually be run by an idiot

"I try to buy stock in businesses that are so wonderful that an idiot can run them. Because sooner or later, one will."

Source: unknown

Stocks have always come out of crises

"Over the long term, the stock market news will be good. In the 20th century, the United States endured two world wars and other traumatic and expensive military conflicts; the Depression; a dozen or so recessions and financial panics; oil shocks; a flu epidemic; and the resignation of a disgraced president. Yet the Dow rose from 66 to 11,497."

Source: The New York Times, October 16, 2008

We haven't figured out what this means

"I am a better investor because I am a businessman, and a better businessman because I am no investor."

Source: Forbes.com - Thoughts On The Business Life

BONUS: Higher taxes aren't a dealbreaker

"SUPPOSE that an investor you admire and trust comes to you with an investment idea. “This is a good one,” he says enthusiastically. “I’m in it, and I think you should be, too.”

Would your reply possibly be this? “Well, it all depends on what my tax rate will be on the gain you’re saying we’re going to make. If the taxes are too high, I would rather leave the money in my savings account, earning a quarter of 1 percent.” Only in Grover Norquist’s imagination does such a response exist."

Source: New York Times

19 Inspirational Quotes From Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black president, Nobel Prize winner and anti-Apartheid icon passed away on Thursday at his home in Johannesburg at the age of 95. By any standard, Madiba, as he was fondly referred to by those who loved him, lived a robust, fulfilling and impactful life. Few people have had as much impact on history as Madiba had. History will remember him as one of the greatest men who ever lived – an incredibly selfless man who made so much of a sacrifice to re-write the history of generations of South Africans and the world.

During his lifetime Mandela inspired us with his numerous words of wisdom, etched in our memories till tomorrow. And his words remain evergreen:

1. I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.
2. I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
3. Difficulties break some men but make others. No axe is sharp enough to cut the soul of a sinner who keeps on trying, one armed with the hope that he will rise even in the end.
4. It always seems impossible until it’s done.
5. When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people and his country, he can rest in peace.
6. Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people.
7. A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dreamt of.
8. Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do.
9. Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
10. For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.
11. Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.
12. There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.
13. Money won’t create success, the freedom to make it will.
14. We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.
15. Man’s goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished
16. Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.
17. I like friends who have independent minds because they tend to make you see problems from all angles.
18. A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.
19. When people are determined they can overcome anything.