The Genie of Warren Buffett

I have been reading this book, The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder. It is the biography of Warren Buffett, in my opinion, the greatest investor of all time. A hefty read — over 800 pages — but well worth it. I’m interested in investing so the book is a great resource of ideas. 

The Snowball
Alice Schroeder

But investing is only one side of the book. The other is, as suggested by the title, the business of life. And as a young and very inexperienced in life man I must say this side of the book has had the biggest impact on me. Just recently I have been going through another chapter and I came across a fascinating passage. The passage consisted almost entirely of a direct quote from Warren Buffett. This quote I want to share today...


The Genie

“When I was sixteen, I had just two things in mind – girls and cars,” Buffett would say, taking a little poetic license here by leaving out the part about the money. ”I wasn’t very good with girls. So I thought about cars. I thought about girls, too, but I had more luck with cars. 

“Let’s say that when I turned sixteen, a genie had appeared to me. And that genie said: ‘Warren, I’m going to give you the car of your choice. It’ll be here tomorrow morning with a big bow tied on it. Brand-new. And it’s all yours.’

“Having heard all the genie stories, I would say, ‘What’s the catch?’ And the genie would answer, ‘There’s only one catch. This is the last car you’re ever going to get in your life. So it’s got to last a lifetime.’ 

“If that had happened, I would have picked out that car. But, can you imagine, knowing it had to last a lifetime, what I would do with it?

“I would read the manual about five times. I would always keep it garaged. If there was the least little dent or scratch, I’d have it fixed right away because I wouldn’t want it rusting. I would baby that car, because it would have to last a lifetime. 

“That’s exactly the position you are in concerning your mind and body. You only get one mind and one body. And it’s got to last a lifetime. Now, it’s very easy to let them ride for many years. But if you don’t take care of that mind and that body, they’ll be a wreck forty years later, just like the car would be.

“It’s what you do right now, today, that determines how your mind and body will operate ten, twenty, and thirty years from now.”

AMAZON: The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life