[.ca] Warren Buffett Speaks: Wit and Wisdom from the World's ... (ISBN 047116996X)

From Amazon.com:
Most people come to know of Warren Buffett through his ability to generate wealth. However, as Janet Lowe reveals in her book, Warren Buffett Speaks, Buffett is more than a money-making machine. Warren Buffett Speaks is a library of notes and quotes that have been collected over the years, aimed at revealing the many aspects of the World's Greatest Investor--his wit, personality, and wisdom. The first half of the book deals with Buffett's view of life, family, and friends, while the latter half focuses on Buffett's investment philosophy and observations about the market. This book is a must for every Buffettologist.

A Collection of Quotes:
This is the wit and wisdom of Warren Buffet, the "World's Greatest Investor." Not all of the quotes are from him but are from friends, family, and colleagues. As mentioned in the book, this is more along the lines of Will Rogers. It is not strictly aphorisms on investing. Just seeing Buffett's name sparked my enthusiasm in the book. Thinking this book would have a lot of investing tips, I was disappointed. The first part of the book consists of sayings on life in general. As the book progresses, then some investing thoughts are covered. When they are covered, they are not easily converted into a personal strategy to make a quick profit. This does not mean that it is without merit. The key idea I will take from this book is to invest in companies rather than stock. If your research shows that the company is solid, you should invest in that company. Another idea is to invest as if you were going to leave for 5-10 years and had no way to change the investment. There is a repeat of at least one quote. "You don't need to be a rocket scientist. Investing is not a game where the guy with the 160 IQ beats the guy with 130 IQ." A rather encouraging thought about investing. If you are looking for a guide to investing, then this is not your book. If you were looking for ideas to think about that would help shape long-term goals, then this would be more helpful. I would wait for the book by Warren Buffett.

Thoughtful / Insightful Words of Wisdom:
Janet has collected and organized Warren Buffet's quotes into categories such as family, friendship, investing (the largest, obviously). Having these quotes in one place brings out the consistency and simple life principles in Buffet's philosophy. Reflecting on how you agree / disagree with the quotes, why, and under which situations will help increase common sense. There are several suggestions that can be usefully applied. For example, I can benefit from researching competition more thoroughly when investing in a company. The four stars instead of five are because I didn't find a major "aha" that would enable a paradigm shift.

Random thoughtsý:
This books should be called "The random thoughts of a rich old man." It appears to me someone followed Mr. Buffet around and wrote down what ever he said then thought "how do I present this is a book?, oh how about a random collection of dis-jointed thoughts! yea that's it!!"

Excellent! A must read for any investor:
The ugly front page had deterred me from buying this book. Fortunately, I still bought it with the strong recommendation of a trader friend. Otherwise, I would have regretted for omitting such an excellent read. In short, this short book is a concise but wise collection of what Buffett spoke about life, work, running a business, investing blah blah blah. It easily convinces me why Buffetts is the most successful investor (he's the richest guy) in history. Things are always easier said than done, but Buffett proved that he had done what he spoke. I had read many books about Buffett and value investing. I think this is by far the best considering value/quality per page. I strongly recommend you to read some sample pages available right here in Amazon and I bet you would love to own the book at once.

But check his performance lately:
A pleasant little book, mostly bonbons for dilettante investors, kind of sugary like those colas Warren loves so much. He's corny but incisive; a conservative who thinks he's part bleeding heart liberal. Right: in shark's skin. People love him, and the stock market degenerates worship him. Well, he's one of the world's richest men, so I guess they would. Personally he reminds me of Doyle Brunson, former world champion poker player. Buffet is fast and very intelligent, but likes to appear country. He hates pretension and likes to make light of himself. He could run for office and win. Not much wisdom here, except second hand. As philosopher, he's a kind of Will Rogers, and like Rogers an American original.