Warren Buffett: "Rule #1: Never lose money. Rule #2: Never forget rule #1."

Warren Buffett: The first rule of investment is: Don’t lose. And the second rule of investment is: Don’t forget the first rule. And that’s all the rules there are. I mean, if you buy things for far below what they’re worth, and you buy a group of them, you basically don’t lose money.

Goodman: Warren, what do you consider the most important quality for an investment manager?

Buffett: It’s the temperamental quality, not an intellectual quality. You don’t need tons of IQ in this business. I mean, you have to have enough IQ to get from here to downtown Omaha, but you do not have to be able to play three-dimensional chess or be in the top leagues in terms of bridge playing or something of the sort. You need a stable personality.

You need a temperament that neither derives great pleasure from being with the crowd or against the crowd because this is not a business where you take polls; it’s a business where you think. And Ben Graham would say that you’re not right or wrong because a thousand people agree with you. And you’re not right or wrong because a thousand people disagree with you. You’re right because your facts and your reasoning are right.