8 of the Smartest Warren Buffett Quotes You Don't Already Know
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Famed investor Warren Buffett, who retired as CEO of conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway at the end of 2025, has earned the nickname “Oracle of Omaha” for good reason. For more than half a century, Buffett was a fountain of wisdom on investing, spending, saving, business, debt, inflation and more in the form of shareholder meetings and letters, as well as prepared and off-the-cuff remarks.
Over the years, many of his quotes have been recycled and repeated by other corporate titans and business writers. Still, that leaves no shortage of aphorisms, insights, quips and zingers from Buffett. Here are some underrated ones.
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On investing
Buffett was well-known for his success at Berkshire Hathaway as well as his personal investing strategies. Here are some of his insights on investing:
- “Don’t try and drive a 9,800-pound truck over a bridge that says… ‘Capacity: 10,000 pounds.’ But go down the road a little bit and find one that says, ‘Capacity: 15,000 pounds.’” (Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, 1996, while discussing the “margin of safety”)
- “Big opportunities come infrequently. When it’s raining gold, reach for a bucket, not a thimble.” (Letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, 2009)
- “Our recommendation in respect to the use of advisors remains: ‘Don’t ask the barber whether you need a haircut.’”(Letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, 2009)
- “The lesson for investors: The weeds wither away in significance as the flowers bloom. Over time, it takes just a few winners to work wonders.” (Letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, 2022)
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On value
Buffett was a proponent of value investing, which involves buying assets that are trading for less than what they’re actually worth. Here are some of his thoughts on value:
- “In our view, it is madness to risk losing what you need in pursuing what you simply desire.” (Letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, 2014)
- “Neither of us [Buffett and Charlie Munger, former Berkshire vice chair ] feels any urgency to buy an estimated $1 of value for a very real 95 cents.” (Letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, 2019)
On retirement
Now that Buffett has retired, here’s what he’s said about retirement over the years:
- “At the Harvard Business School last year, a student asked me when I planned to retire and I replied, ‘About five to ten years after I die.’” (Letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, 1991)
- “I treasure those extraordinary Berkshire managers who are working well past normal retirement age and who concomitantly are achieving results much superior to those of their younger competitors… It’s hard to teach a new dog old tricks.” (Letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, 1992)
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