Warren Buffett is an American philanthropist and business magnate. He is arguably the most successful investor of the 20th century. In 2008 he was the richest man in the world, valued at $62billion

1. ‘Rule number one: don’t lose money. Rule number two: always remember rule number one.’

Speaking in jest about the importance of financial figures in business.

2. ‘Price is what you pay, value is what you get.’

Differentiating price with value, an important business concept.

3. ‘Very, very few people could appreciate the bubble. That’s the nature of bubbles ‘ they’re mass delusions.’

Speaking of the difficulty of seeing the potential flaws of a business idea/investment.

4. ‘I always knew I’d be rich, I didn’t doubt it for a minute.’

Here he talks about even before he was rich, he was confident he would be successful.

5. ‘I buy expensive suits, but they still look cheap on me.’

Joking about his image later in life.

6. ‘I don’t try to jump over 7 foot bars, I looks for 1 foot bars that I can step over.’

Take things a step at a time; don’t bite off more than you can chew.

7. ‘Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing.’

Saying if you know what you are doing, it will be a success.

8. ‘Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.’

Using poetic imagery to speak about finding your bad habits early.

9. ‘It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.’

Here he speaks of the fickle nature of business.

10. ‘In the business world, the rear-view mirror is always clearer than the windshield.’

Looking forward is more difficult that reflecting back in business.

11. ‘Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.’

People in the future should benefit from the ideas of today.

12. ‘Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.’

When things get tough, you can quickly see who is ‘out of their depth’.

13. ‘Wall Street is the only place that people ride in on a Rolls Royce to take advice from those who take the subway.’

Speaking of the irony of Wall Street, the poor (poorer) people have the knowledge; the rich people make the investments and the money.

14. ‘A public opinion poll is no substitute for thought.’

Thinking about something is ultimately better than asking for the general consensus.

15. ‘If past history was all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians.’

Things change, and if you only go on past experiences, you won’t get very far. You need to innovate and have new ideas to be successful.