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而不能救止，蓋其禍已成也 以陶朱公之智計，知長男必殺仲子，

而不能保全，殆其罪難宥乎 以直道教人，人即不從，而自反無愧，切勿曲以求榮也

以誠心待人，人或不諒，而歷久自明，不必急於求白也 義之中有利，而尚義之君子，初非計及於利也

利之中有害，而趨利之小人，並不顧其為害也 意趣清高，利祿不能動也。誌量遠大，富貴不能淫也

憂先於事，故能無憂，事至而憂無救於事 此唐使李絳語也。其警人之意深矣，可書以揭諸座右

堯舜大聖，而生朱均。瞽鯀之愚，而生舜禹。揆以餘慶殃之理，似覺難憑 然堯舜之聖，初未嘗因朱均而減。瞽鯀之愚，亦不能因舜禹而掩

有不可及之誌，必有不可及之功 有不忍言之心，必有不忍言之禍

有真性情須有真涵養。有大識見乃有大文章 有守雖無所展布，而其節不撓，故與有猷有為而並重

立言即未經起行，而於人有益，故與立功立德而並傳 有生資，不加學力，氣質究難化也

慎大德，不矜細行，形跡終可疑也 有才必韜藏，如渾金璞玉，然而日章也

為學無間斷，如流水行雲，日進而不已也 友以成德也，人而無友，則孤陋寡聞，德不能成矣

學以愈愚也，人而不學，則昏昧無知，愚不能愈矣 言不可盡信，必揆諸理。事未可遽行，必問諸心

嚴近乎矜，然嚴是正氣，矜是乖氣，故持身貴嚴而不可矜 謙似乎諂，然謙是虛心，諂是媚心。故處世貴謙而不可諂

顏子之不校，孟子之自反，是賢人處橫逆之方 子貢之無諂，原思之坐弦，是賢人守貧窮之法

飲食男女，人之大欲存焉，然人欲既勝天理或亡 故有道之士，必使飲食有節，男女有別

隱微之衍，即幹憲典，所以君子懷刑也 技藝之末，無益身心，所以君子務本也

無論作何等人，總不可有勢利氣 無論習何等業，總不可有粗浮心

無執滯心，才是通方士。有做作氣，便非本色人 無財非貧，無學乃為貧。無位非賤，無恥乃為賤

無年非夭，無述乃為夭。無子非孤，無德乃為孤 誤用聰明，何若一生守拙。濫交朋友，不如終日讀書

伍子胥報父兄之仇而郢都滅，申包胥救君上之難而楚國存，可知人心足恃也 秦始皇滅東周之歲而劉季生，梁武帝滅南齊之年而侯景降，可知天道好還也

為學不外靜敬二字。教人先去驕惰二字 為鄉鄰解紛爭，使得和好如初，即化人之事也

為世俗談因果，使知報應不爽，亦勸善之方也 為善之端無盡，只講一讓字，便人人可行

立身之道何窮，只得一敬字，便事事皆整 為人循矩度，而不見精神，則登場之傀儡也

作事守章程，而不知權變，則依樣之葫蘆也 文行忠信，孝悌恭敬，孔子立教之目也，今惟教以文而已

誌道據德，依仁遊藝，孔門為學之序也，今但學其藝而已 穩當話，卻是平常話，所以聽穩當話者不多

本分人，即是快活人，無奈做本分人者甚少 王者不令人放生，而無故卻不殺生，則物命可惜也

聖人不責人無過，惟多方誘之改過，庶人心可回也 與朋友交遊，須將他好處留心學來，方能受益

對聖賢言語，必要我平時照樣行去，才算讀書 與其使鄉黨有譽言，不如令鄉黨無怨言

與其為子孫謀產業，不如教子孫習恒業 遇老成人，便肯殷殷求教，則向善必篤也

聽切實話，覺得津津有味，則進德可期也 余最愛草廬日錄有句雲：淡如秋水貧中味，和若春風靜後功

讀之覺矜平躁釋，意味深長 欲利己，便是害己。肯下人，終能上人

用功於內者，必於外無所求。飾美於外者，必其中無所有

It’s per-share intrinsic value that counts, however, not book value. Here, the news is good: Between 1964 and 2004, Berkshire morphed from a…

Despite their shortcomings, yearly calculations of book value are useful at Berkshire as a slightly understated gauge for measuring the long-term…

However the yearly comparisons work out, Berkshire’s long-term performance versus the S&P remains all-important. Our shareholders can buy the S&P…

Last year, Berkshire’s book-value gain of 10.5% fell short of the index’s 10.9% return. Our lackluster performance was not due to any stumbles by the…

Yet if precision is aided by Berkshire’s financial characteristics, the job of calculating intrinsic value has been made more complex by the mere…

We have attempted to ease this problem by clustering our businesses into four logical groups, each of which we discuss later in this report. In these…

Before we look at our individual businesses, however, let’s review two sets of figures that show where we’ve come from and where we are now. The…

In addition to these marketable securities, which with minor exceptions are held in our insurance companies, we own a wide variety of non-insurance…

We believe that $16.9 billion is a record for a one-year gain in net worth – more than has ever been booked by any American business, leaving aside…

Charlie and I measure Berkshire’s progress and evaluate its intrinsic value in a number of ways. No single criterion is effective in doing these jobs…

In our early years we put most of our retained earnings and insurance float into investments in marketable securities. Because of this emphasis,…

Over the years, however, we have focused more and more on the acquisition of operating businesses. Using our funds for these purchases has both…

That party is over. It’s a certainty that insurance-industry profit margins, including ours, will fall significantly in 2008. Prices are down, and…

Berkshire has two major areas of value. The first is our investments: stocks, bonds and cash equivalents. At yearend these totaled $141 billion…

Insurance float – money we temporarily hold in our insurance operations that does not belong to us – funds $59 billion of our investments. This float…

Berkshire’s second component of value is earnings that come from sources other than investments and insurance. These earnings are delivered by our 66…

The table on the preceding page, recording both the 44-year performance of Berkshire’s book value and the S&P 500 index, shows that 2008 was the…

By the fourth quarter, the credit crisis, coupled with tumbling home and stock prices, had produced a paralyzing fear that engulfed the country. A…

Take a look again at the 44-year table on page 2. In 75% of those years, the S&P stocks recorded a gain. I would guess that a roughly similar…

Most of the Berkshire businesses whose results are significantly affected by the economy earned below their potential last year, and that will be…

A more difficult decision for us was how to measure the progress of Berkshire versus the S&P. There are good arguments for simply using the change in…

We should note that had we instead chosen market prices as our yardstick, Berkshire’s results would look better, showing a gain since the start of…

Summed up, the table on page 2 conveys three messages, two positive and one hugely negative. First, we have never had any five-year period…

Just because Charlie and I can clearly see dramatic growth ahead for an industry does not mean we can judge what its profit margins and returns on…

A “normal year,” of course, is not something that either Charlie Munger, Vice Chairman of Berkshire and my partner, or I can define with anything…

Over time, the movement of goods in the United States will increase, and BNSF should get its full share of the gain. The railroad will need to invest…

Last year – in the face of widespread pessimism about our economy – we demonstrated our enthusiasm for capital investment at Berkshire by spending $6…

In Berkshire’s case, we long ago told you that our job is to increase per-share intrinsic value at a rate greater than the increase (including…