“I am more and more impressed with the possibilities of history’s repeating itself on many different counts. You don’t get very far in Wall Street with the simple, convenient conclusion that a given level of prices is not too high.”

It’s nonsensical to derive a price/earnings ratio by dividing the known current price by unknown future earnings.

The qualitative factors upon which most stress is laid are the nature of the business and the character of the management. These elements are exceedingly important, but they are also exceedingly difficult to deal with intelligently.

The value of any investment is, and always must be, a function of the price you pay for it.

Stocks can be dynamite.

I quickly convinced myself that the true key to material happiness lay in a modest standard of living which could be achieved with little difficulty under almost all economic conditions.

Before you invest, you must ensure that you have realistically assessed your probability of being right and how you will react to the consequences of being wrong.

The intelligent investor gets interested in big growth stocks not when they are at their most popular – but when something goes wrong.

The ideal form of common stock analysis leads to a valuation of the issue which can be compared with the current price to determine whether or not the security is an attractive purchase.

Every corporate security may be best viewed, in the first instance, as an ownership interest in, or a claim against, a specific business enterprise.

The intelligent investor should recognize that market panics can create great prices for good companies and good prices for great companies.

Avoid second-quality issues in making up a portfolio unless they are demonstrable bargains.

Price fluctuations have only one significant meaning for the true investor. They provide him with an opportunity to buy wisely when prices fall sharply and to sell wisely when they advance a great deal.

Successful investing professionals are disciplined and consistent and they think a great deal about what they do and how they do it.

Both individual skill (art) and chance are important factors in determining success or failure.

Buy not on optimism, but on arithmetic.

To have a true investment, there must be a true margin of safety. And a true margin of safety is one that can be demonstrated by figures, by persuasive reasoning, and by reference to a body of actual experience.

There is little difference technically between a complicated, confusing program and a simple, fun, and powerful product.

Be sincere. Be simple in words, manners, and gestures. Amuse as well as instruct.

I still don’t like the word agnostic. It’s too fancy. I’m simply not a believer. But, as simple as this notion is, it confuses some people.

I am surprised to see that today everything that does not amount to surrender pure and simple to generalized capitalism.

To many, the solution seems simple enough: such a change being impossible, the art of the novel is dying.

As I often say, we have come a long way from the days of slavery, but in 2014, discrimination and inequality still saturate our society in modern ways.

The new product, if it’s going to be successful, is going to require a new name. New ladder, new name. It’s as simple as that.

When a really new product comes along, it’s almost always a mistake to hang a well-known name on it.