'Of one thing be certain: if a CEO is enthused about a particularly foolish acquisition, both his internal staff and his outside advisors will come up with whatever projections are needed to justify his stance. Only in fairy tales are emperors told that they are naked.'

'It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.'

When asked how he became so successful in investing, Buffett answered: 'we read hundreds and hundreds of annual reports every year.'

'Occasionally, a man must rise above principles.'