Theresa Worrell: 20 Smart quotes from Warren Buffet

Why not learn from the best?

There’s a reason Warren Buffett is one of the most frequently quoted investors around.

He’s s a true genius as he is able to simplify complex ideas into quotes that will stand the test of time.

So here are 25 of his best takes on investing, success, and life in general:

1. “Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”

2. “If past history was all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians.”

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4. “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.”

5. “Never count on making a good sale. Have the purchase price be so attractive that even a mediocre sale gives good results.”

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7. “You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.”

8. “Anyone can pick a winner in a bull market. Picking out winners in a declining market is where true greatness is found.”

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10. “You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong.”

11. “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”

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13. “Only buy something that you’d be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years.”

14. “I am a better investor because I am a businessman and a better businessman because I am no investor.”

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16. “We’ve long felt that the only value of stock forecasters is to make fortunetellers look good. Even now, Charlie and I continue to believe that short-term market forecasts are poison and should be kept locked up in a safe place, away from children and also from grown-ups who behave in the market like children.”

17. “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 when others are fearful.”

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19. “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.”