Business Quotes

In my case, if one out of five opportunities is interesting enough to work on, maybe one in five of those ends up being worth doing. That might be a function of risk. That might be a function of price. There are all the variables. But you have to be constantly sorting and choosing and prioritizing.

When somebody buys a stock it’s because they think it’s going to go up and the person who sold it to them thinks it’s going to go down. Somebody’s wrong.

Business is not financial science, it’s about trading.. buying and selling. It’s about creating a product or service so good that people will pay for it.

When buying shares, ask yourself, would you buy the whole company?

At the time we acquired Viacom, everyone said I had overpaid. But even at today’s depressed prices, that investment is worth billions. Everyone was saying MTV was a fad. I knew better.

I think one of the most misunderstood things about business in America is that people are either doing things for altruistic reasons or they are greedy and selfish, just after profit. That type of dichotomy portrays a false image of business. It certainly is a false image of Whole Foods. The whole idea is to do both: The animals have to flourish, but in such a way that it’ll be cheap enough for the customers to buy it.

When stocks are attractive, you buy them. Sure, they can go lower. I’ve bought stocks at $12 that went to $2, but then they later went to $30. You just don’t know when you can find the bottom.

The average man doesn’t wish to be told that it is a bull or a bear market. What he desires is to be told specifically which particular stock to buy or sell. He wants to get something for nothing. He does not wish to work. He doesn’t even wish to have to think.

When I’m bearish and I sell a stock, each sale must be at a lower level than the previous sale. When I am buying, the reverse is true. I must buy on a rising scale. I don’t buy long stocks on a scale down, I buy on a scale up.

If you don’t have integrity, you have nothing. You can’t buy it. You can have all the money in the world, but if you are not a moral and ethical person, you really have nothing.