“The iron rule of nature is: you get what you reward for. If you want ants to come, you put sugar on the floor.”

Acknowledging what you don’t know is the dawning of wisdom.

A foreign correspondent, after talking to me for a while, once said: “You don’t seem smart enough to be so good at what you’re doing. Do you have an explanation?”

There is bound to be a regression toward the mean.

You must force yourself to consider opposing arguments. Especially when they challenge your best loved ideas.

I believe in the discipline of mastering the best that other people have ever figured out. I don’t believe in just sitting down and trying to dream it all up yourself. Nobody’s that smart.

If you don’t allow for self-serving bias in the conduct of others, you are, again, a fool.

If you can buy the best companies, over time the pricing takes care of itself.

Just avoid things like racing trains to the crossing, doing cocaine, etc. Develop good mental habits.

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.