The magic of Berkshire Hathaway - Warren Buffett in quotes

Pearls of wisdom from the world's second richest man, Warren Buffett.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/8223002/The-magic-of-Berkshire-Hathaway-Warren-Buffett-in-quotes.html

On shareholders:

"We much prefer owners who like our service and our menu and return year after year."

"For our part, we do not view Berkshire shareholders as faceless members of an ever-shifting crowd, but rather as co-adventurers who have entrusted their funds to us for what may well turn out to be the remainder of their lives."

On owning a small number of shares:

"Anyone owning such a number of securities... is following what I call the Noah School of Investing – two of everthing. Such investors should be piloting the ark."

On investing:

"I call investing the greatest business in the world because you never have to swing. All day you just wait for the pitch you like; then, when the fielders are asleep, you step up and hit it."

On debt:

"It's a very sad thing. You can have somebody whose aggregate performance is terrific, but if they have a weakness – maybe it's with alcohol, maybe it's susceptibility to taking a little easy money – it's the weak link that snaps you. And frequently, in the financial markets, the weak link is borrowed money."

On Coca-Cola:

"If you gave me $100bn and said take away the soft-drink leadership of Coca-Cola in the world, I'd give it back to you and say it can't be done." It owns the company that powers lights each morning for 3.8 million homes in Yorkshire, Northumberland and Lincolnshire – CE Electric. It is the biggest owner of Coca-Cola shares and this year spent $26bn (£17bn) buying a railway company headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. Its market capitalisation is bigger than Google.