Three years as the minimum test
“I have always cautioned partners that I considered three years a minimum in determining whether we were 'performing'.”
Investing
Warren Buffett's October 1967 letter to Buffett Partnership partners, one of the letters in Buffett Partnership Letters, 1957–1970.
Short-term performance brings enormous rewards
“The payoff for superior short term performance has become enormous, not only in compensation for results actually achieved, but in the attraction of new money for the next round.”
Experience says timing estimates are meaningless
“Even if there are serious consequences resulting from present and future speculative activity, experience suggests estimates of timing are meaningless.”
Calling the new game wrong is human
“When the game is no longer being played your way, it is only human to say the new approach is all wrong, bound to lead to trouble, etc. I have been scornful of such behavior by others in the past.”
The penalty for judging conditions as they were
“I have also seen the penalties incurred by those who evaluate conditions as they were - not as they are.”
Habits outlast the reasons for them
“I have observed many cases of habit patterns in all activities of life, particularly business, continuing (and becoming accentuated as years pass) long after they ceased making sense.”
Distaste for announced goals that mask real motives
“I have always found behavior most distasteful which publicly announces one set of goals and motivations when actually an entirely different set of factors prevails.”