An investor needs to do very few things right as long as he or she avoids big mistakes.
Interpretation
Successful investing relies more on avoiding major errors than on making perfect choices.
Warren Buffett's quote emphasizes the importance of risk management in investing. It suggests that rather than striving for perfection in every investment decision, an investor should focus on steering clear of significant mistakes, which can be detrimental to their financial health. By minimizing the chances of making serious errors, investors can achieve long-term success even with limited correct decisions.
In practice
During a financial seminar on investment strategies, one might say this quote to highlight the importance of risk management.
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.
Oneβs objective should be to get it right, get it quick, get it out and get it over. Your problem wonβt improve with age.
I never heard Jack Nicklaus say, 'I'm a great player,' or Tiger Woods, as a matter of fact. They just get out and do it. And I think that's far more appealing... than talking about how good you are.
The Nobel Prize is fine, but the drugs I've developed are rewards in themselves.
A dollar won is twice as sweet as a dollar earned.
If you believe that some day it's going to happen, some day it probably will happen. You just have to make sure you're there when it's happening, and ideally you're at the front of the parade, and the principle beneficiary of when it happens.
Our goal is not to win. It's to play together and play hard. Then, winning takes care of itself.
At a startup, it's hard enough to get a single thing right, much less a whole bunch of things. Especially if the things you are trying to do are not only dissimilar but actively impede each other.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.