Warren Buffett Quotes

You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.

Not so long ago, companies that borrowed lots of money were considered risky, appropriate only for daredevil stock pickers. Those with lots of cash on hand and few outstanding debts might be dull stocks, but they were at least safe bets for bondholders.

It has to be understood, it has to be measured, and the investment needs to make sense, but debt on its face is not a bad thing.

The thing about using other people's money is they're going to set the rules.

If you have a lot of short-term debt, it means that all of that money can be demanded in a very short period of time. Technically, short-term debt means money that's coming due within a year. Typically, it means money that's coming due within 30 to 90 days.

What I'm concerned about is endless borrowing, which is going to compromise our economy not only today but in the future. Because we know the decisions we make right now really dramatically impact us in the future, and the debt is literally getting out of our control.

One needs a comprehensive concept that decides just how much debt states like Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy can sustainably bear.

Leverage is great when it works, and when it doesn't work, it creates a lot of issues. So I think if you limit the amount of leverage that people can borrow, or that banks can borrow, I think you'll find that you'll have a lot less issues going forward.

We've always been modestly leveraged, and we've never believed in a great deal of leverage on either our private equity business or on our investment banking business. And I think it really goes back to my uncle and dad growing up in the Depression and just seeing what happened to people who were overly levered.

Homeowners refinance their loans when interest rates go down. Businesses refinance their loans.

You can make great money in a utility type of business by borrowing cheaply and lending sensibly but that's not what's being done.

The farmer may often have suffered from excessive interest and grasping creditors; but it was no less frequently the avarice of the lender that got him into trouble than the fact that he was too sanguine and too prone to believe that he could safely go into debt, on the assumption that crops and prices in the future would equal those in the present.

We are borrowing cheaply because we are the best looking horse in the glue factory.

A stable currency and an excessive external debt are incompatible. A similar relation holds as between a country's currency and an excessive internal debt

Loans are a different experience for everyone, but the mentality you have to have is not to feel relaxed. You have to have a mindset that you're going to try harder and work harder than anyone.

What you want to watch are the lenders, not the borrowers. The borrowers will always be willing to take a great deal for themselves. It's up to the lenders to show restraint, and when they lose it, watch out.

The cost of money rises dramatically if you can't afford to keep it in a bank.

Modern economies rely on debt, which encourages productivity and growth. But that system of credit requires consequences for debtors who default.

An improving credit landscape means fewer loans are delinquent - and fewer people are needed to service these loans.

Good debt accrues assets that generate positive returns and externalities.

Borrowing isn't inherently bad; it depends a lot on what the debt is financing.

There was a time when a company could not sell its shares to the public unless its revenues were growing and it was turning a profit. Companies that lost money were deemed too risky for public investors.

I think some people don't truly understand the situation, and they think, you know, the debt limit, it doesn't really mean anything, and they don't understand the implications on the U.S. economy and on the global markets.

In nine companies out of ten the factor of fluctuation has been a more dominant and important consideration in the matter of investment than has the factor of long-term growth or decline

There is a big problem. The problem is the country borrowed too much. We went on a borrowing binge, there was a housing boom. You want to help people de-leverage and deal with those debts over time.