“I’m not entitled to have an opinion unless I can state the arguments against my position better than the people who are in opposition. I think that I am qualified to speak only when I’ve reached that state.”

A lot of success in life and business comes from knowing what you want to avoid: early death, a bad marriage, etc.

There has never been a master plan. Anyone who wanted to do it, we fired because it takes on a life of its own and doesn’t cover new reality. We want people taking into account new information.

I think that, every time you saw the word EBITDA, you should substitute the word “bullshit” earnings.

We have found in a long life that one competitor is frequently enough to ruin a business.

I never allow myself to have an opinion on anything that I don’t know the other side’s argument better than they do.

Three rules for a career: 1) Don’t sell anything you wouldn’t buy yourself; 2) Don’t work for anyone you don’t respect and admire; and 3) Work only with people you enjoy.

It’s stupid the way people extrapolate the past — and not slightly stupid, but massively stupid.

If the value of a company doesn’t just scream out at you, it’s too close.

It is remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent.

How do you compete against a true fanatic? You can only try to build the best possible moat and continuously attempt to widen it.

We don’t like trading agony for money

This is a good life lesson: getting the right people into your system is the most important thing you can do.

I did not succeed in life by intelligence. I succeeded because I have a long attention span.

If you don’t keep learning, other people will pass you by. Temperament alone won’t do it – you need a lot of curiosity for a long, long time.

Our job is to find a few intelligent things to do, not to keep up with every damn thing in the world.

The game of life is the game of everlasting learning. At least it is if you want to win.

What use are the best of arguments when they can be destroyed by force?

Many argue; not many converse.

You load your words as I bare my chest, and this will be the most beautiful death.

Jokes of the proper kind, properly told, can do more to enlighten questions of politics, philosophy, and literature than any number of dull arguments.

To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.

To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist by scripture.

A man lives by believing something: not by debating and arguing about many things.

It’s unarguable that the right shoes can really add elegance to an outfit and to the person who’s wearing them. Take a pair of high heels, for instance. Suddenly, you’re looking taller, shoulders back, body curved.