Warren Buffett Speaks: Wit and Wisdom from the World’s Greatest Investor

Chapter . About Work

Philosophers tell us to do what we love and success will follow. Buffett is living proof that it works.

Work for the Fun of it

Warren Buffett noted that when he graduated from Columbia University:

“Wall Street [in 1951] wasn’t a hot place to work at all. The Dow was 200, and the market from 1945 to 1949 had gone sort of sideways. The high was about 190, and the low was about 160. Then it started moving up; 1950 was the first year the Dow never sold below 200. In 1929, it sold at 381; but during the year, it was below 200. So people were very suspicious about the postwar [era] and thought we were going into a depression. [Wall Street] was not a big money place to work . . . it was quite a different world.”^[1]

Buffett says working with people you don’t like is like “marrying for money”:

“I think that’s kind of a crazy way to live. It’s probably a bad idea under any circumstances, but absolutely nuts if you’re already rich.”^[2]

“What I am is a realist. I always knew I’d like what I’m doing. Oh, perhaps it would have been nice to be a major league baseball player, but that’s where the realism comes in.”^[3]

“It’s not that I want money. It’s the fun of making money and watching it grow.”^[4]

“I’m the luckiest guy in the world in terms of what I do for a living. No one can tell me to do things I don’t believe in or things I think are stupid.”^[5]

Buffett is often encouraged to run for political office:

“I wouldn’t trade my job for any job, and that includes political life.”^{[6] ...}