Month: June 2015

Too lazy to think

There is no expedient to which man will not resort to avoid the real labour of thinking. Sir Joshua Reynolds - English painter (1723-1792)

Upbringing

Before I got married I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six children and no theories. John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester - English writer (1647-1680)

Outstanding managers

Outstanding managers are like good friends: when you find one the friendship is durable and capable of lasting years. But friendships aren"t given; they require work and patience. And they reward us when most needed by keeping us from doing dumb things. Consider the mental stress of changing friends regularly! How much financial stress comes form a continual changing of financial relations?...

Endurance

What should you be doing in running your business? Just what you always do: Widen the moat, build enduring competitive advantage, delight your customers, and relentlessly fight costs. Warren Buffett about hard times in Business - American value kinvestor, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (b. 1930), Quotations book 2003

Mediocrity

Time is the friend of the wonderful business, the enemy of the mediocre. Warren Buffett - American value investor, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (b. 1930), Quotations book 2003

Boardroom atmosphere

Too often boardroom atmosphere means that collegiality trumps independence. Warren Buffett - American value investor, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (b. 1930), Quotations book 2005

Qualities of managers

Three qualities of managers - integrity, intelligence and energy. If you don"t have the first one the last two will kill you. Warren Buffett - American value investor, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (b. 1930), Quotations book 2003

Comprehensible accounting

If I can"t understand the accounting, they don"t want me to. Warren Buffett - American value investor, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (b. 1930)

Earnings

Earnings can be pliable as putty when a charlatan heads the company reporting them. Warren Buffett - American value investor, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (b. 1930), Quotations book 2005

Circle of competence

Answer to the question why Warren Buffett is better than investors with a higher IQ: We know better what we know and what we do not know. Warren Buffett - American value investor, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (b. 1930)

Faith in God

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. The Bible, Philippians 1:6 (NIV)

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may...

Synergy

Synergy: A term widely used in business to explain an acquisition that otherwise makes no sense. Warren Buffett - American value investor, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (b. 1930), in his letter to Berkshire Shareholders (1985)

Business cycles

Every business cycle has three phases. In the first, innovators get rich. In the second, imitators get rich. In the third, idiots get rich - and then lose it. attributed to Warren Buffett - American value investor, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (b. 1930)

History

If history books were the key to riches, the Forbes 400 would consist of librarians. Warren Buffett - American value investor, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (b. 1930), Quotations book 2002

Wonderful company

It"s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price. Warren Buffett - American value investor, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (b. 1930), Quotations book 2006

Wealth

Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants. following Epicurus- Greek philosopher (341-270 BC), following a longer passage in his "Letters to Menoikeus" (130, 5-8), Quotations book 2007 The Original says: Καὶ τὴν αὐτάρκειαν δὲ ἀγαθὸν μέγα νομίζομεν, οὐχ ἵνα πάντως τοῖς ὀλίγοις χρώμεθα, ἀλλ’ ὅπως, ἐὰν μὴ ἔχωμεν τὰ πολλά, τοῖς ὀλίγοις ἀρκώμεθα, πεπεισμένοι γνησίως...

Christmas

Jesus comes into our night so that we can come into his light. Peter Hahne - German television host and 1992-2009 member of the German Evangelical Church Council (b. 1952), Quotations book 2012

Community

In a knowledge economy, a good business is a community with a purpose, not a piece of property. Charles Handy - Irish author and management expert (b. 1932), Quotations book 2007

Leadership

Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things. Peter F. Drucker - Austrian-born American management expert (1909-2005), Quotations book 2007