all Quotes

Competition

The competitor to be feared is one who never bothers about you at all, but goes on making his business better all the time. Henry Ford - American engineer and industrialist (1863-1947)

Passion

What matters most: passion or competence that was born in? Berkshire is full of people who have a peculiar passion for their own business. I would argue passion is more important than brain power. Charlie Munger - Vice Chairman Berkshire Hathaway (1924-2023), Quotations book 2024

Nothing is easy in life

Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well. Theodore Roosevelt - American politician, 1901-09 26th president, Nobel Peace Prize 1906 (1858-1919), from his address "American Ideals in Education,"...

Mortal – immortal

That in the meantime we die, we are passing over to immortality by death; nor can eternal life follow, unless it should befall us to depart from this life. That is not an ending, but a transit [and, this journey of time being traversed, a passage to eternity]. Quod interim morimur, ad inmortalitatem morte transgredimur nec potest uita aeterna succedere, nisi hinc contigerit exire. Non est...

Preach natural

We must preach, not after the manner of doctors of divinity, but after the manner of those unlearned and ignorant men in the olden time who had been with Jesus, and learned of him. Brethren, some of you have too much armor on. Put it off: be simple, be natural, be artless, be plain-spoken, be trustful in the living God, and you will succeed. Charles Haddon Spurgeon - English Baptist pastor...

Perseverance and determination

Life is a marathon, not a sprint, and the thing that gets you to the end is perseverance and determination. Arthur J. Falcone – American real estate developer, chairman and CEO of Falcone Group (b. 1959), Quotations book 2024

Passion

Standing on the assembly line is work! What I do is leisure activities with a professional background. Karl Lagerfeld – German fashion designer, artist and photographer (1933-2019)

Opportunities

What gives you opportunities is other people doing dumb things. Warren Buffett - American value investor, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (b. 1930), at the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting (May 6th, 2023), Quottions book 2024

Moral responsibility

Without breaking any laws, the number of ways in which those in control can benefit themselves and their families at the expense of the ordinary shareholder is almost infinite. [...] There is only one real protection against abuses like these. This is to confine investments to companies the managements of which have a highly developed sense of trusteeship and moral responsibility to their...

Felt from heart

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen nor even touched, but just felt in the heart. Anne Sullivan Macy -  born Johanna Mansfield Sullivan, American teacher for blind children (1866-1936), to her later known student Helen Keller (American deaf-blind writer, 1880-1968), from a letter to Reverend Phillips Brook (8. June 1891), published in "The Story of My Life"...

Spread love

I pray that each one of you be holy and so spread His love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without coming away better, happier. Mother Teresa - born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, Albanian-born Indian nun and order's founder, Nobel Peace Prize 1979 (1910-1997), Quotations book 2024

Radiate love

Each time anyone comes in contact with us, they must become different and better people because of having met us. We must radiate God’s love. Mother Teresa - born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, Albanian-born Indian nun and order's founder, Nobel Peace Prize 1979 (1910-1997)

Life’s work

I always look to invest in a manager who has made the company his or her life's work. Robert "Rob" Vinall – British value investor, founder and managing director of RV Capital (b. 1973), Quotations book 2024

Competence

What you want in life is a young doctor and an old investment advisor: The doctor is at the peak of his knowledge when he graduates medical school and a thoughtful investment advisor should be growing in wisdom every day. Thomas "Tom" S. Gayner– American investor, CO-CEO and CIO Markel Corp (b. 1961), Quotations book...

Churches

Like harbours at sea, God established His churches in cities; that you might flee to them from the tossing of life's commotions, and find still water. Johan Chrysostom – born Johan of Antioch, Greek Doctor of Church, 398-407 Archbishof of Constantinopel (344 or 349-407), from his sermon on the Baptism of Christ

Bring capital to the best host

Our job is to pass custody of your investment over at the right price and to the right people. Nick Sleep - British investor and co-founder of Sleep, Zakaria and Company and the IGY Foundation (b. 1968)

Doubts

The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts. after Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell - British philosopher and mathematician, Nobel Prize in literature 1950 (1872-1970)), freely after a quote from his collection of essays "Mortals and Others: American Essays" (1931-35) The fundamental cause...

Fight

It is better to fight for something than against something. attributed to Amos Bronson Alcott - American philosopher and pedagogue (1799-1888)

Fokus

People think focus means saying "yes" to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying "no" to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying "no" to 1,000 things. Steve Jobs - American company founder: Apple (1955-2011), at...

Founder’s spirit

Our favourite and most frequent acquisitions are the businesses that we buy from founders. When a founder invests the better part of a lifetime building a business, a long term orientation tends to permeate all aspects of the enterprise: employee selection and development, establishing and building symbiotic customer relationships, and evolving sophisticated product suites. Mark Leonard –...

Get the point

If I had more time, I would have written you a shorter letter. saying, based on a quotze by Blaise Pascal - French mathematician and philosopher, (1623-1662), from "Lettres Provinciales" (1657): Je n’ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n’ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte. I only made this one (letter) longer because I didn't have the leisure to make it shorter. Quotations...