We don't get paid for activity, just for being right. As to how long we'll wait, we'll wait indefinitely.
Interpretation
Success comes from making the right decisions rather than just being busy.
Warren Buffett's quote emphasizes the importance of making sound judgments over merely being active or busy in our endeavors. It suggests that true success is determined not by the amount of work we do, but by the quality and accuracy of our decisions, and that patience is often a part of this process.
In practice
This quote can be used in a business meeting to emphasize the value of strategic thinking.
I have no views as to where it will be, but the one thing I can tell you is it won't do anything between now and then except look at you. Whereas, you know, Coca-Cola (KO) will be making money, and I think Wells Fargo (WFC) will be making a lot of money and there will be a lot - and it's a lot - it's a lot better to have a goose that keeps laying eggs than a goose that just sits there and eats insurance and storage and a few things like that.
If the world couldn't see your results, would you rather be thought of as the world's greatest investor but in reality have the world's worst record? Or be thought of as the world's worst investor when you were actually the best?
Cash never makes us happy, but it's better to have the money burning a hole in Berkshire's pocket than resting comfortably in someone else's.
I think you should read everything you can. In my case, by the age of 10, I'd read every book in the Omaha public library about investing, some twice. _x000D_ You need to fill your mind with various competing thoughts and decide which make sense.
The most common cause of low prices is pessimism - some times pervasive, some times specific to a company or industry. We want to do business in such an environment, not because we like pessimism but because we like the prices it produces. It's optimism that is the enemy of the rational buyer.
One’s objective should be to get it right, get it quick, get it out and get it over. Your problem won’t improve with age.
The ability to bounce back after a setback is the single most important trait an entrepreneurial venture can possess.
To double your net worth, double your self-worth. Because you will never exceed the height of your self-image.
Every failure brings with it the seed of an equivalent success.
Being successful doesn’t necessarily make you great. What makes you great is when you reach back and help somebody else become great.
What is the recipe for successful achievement? Choose a career you love. Give it the best there is in you. Seize your opportunities. And be a member of the team.
Many of the most successful men I have known have never grown up. They have retained bubbling-over boyishness. They have relished wit, they have indulged in humor. They have not allowed ‘dignity’ to depress them into moroseness. Youthfulness of spirit is the twin brother of optimism, and optimism is the stuff of which American business success is fashioned. Resist growing up!
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