Warren Buffett says his great skill is avoiding bad luck

and uh my question relates to the concept of maximizing the duration of compounding as individuals age the quality of compounding inevitably diminishes what are your secrets in maintaining your sharp man extraordinary judgment and great physical condition we wish you well thank you well you don't know me well but that's I like just keep talking I mean the uh well I you know you have to be just plain lucky I mean there's no question about it that uh that uh there's 100 100 a thousand you know multiply number of times that some drunk could have pulled out of a car and broadsided me or you know just all the bad luck that you can have in life and I you know you can say that my my great skill has been avoiding bad luck but that isn't a skill that's luck or bad bad bad activities and and you know and then to get to be you know I would not have been a if you'd taken my high school class and you say you know a couple of you are going to live to be 90 men are going to live to be 90 three maybe I you know I wouldn't I would not have been a heavy favorite I can tell you that and I wouldn't have bet on my myself uh but uh you just now you you shouldn't make the most of your luck when you get it and sometimes I've done that and sometimes I haven't uh I mean it is absolutely true that if if I had it to do over again there there'd be a lot of different choices I would make what they would have ended up working out as well as as things have worked out it's hard to imagine how they could have worked out any better so so but it is interesting how many mistakes you can make uh if you just keep going and Charlie you know when used to talk about that that you just Soldier through you just keep going and but you still need luck you don't you don't want to anybody says I did it all myself is just kidding I mean it's just it's uh they're delusional and uh uh you know actually live in a country where the life expectancy is pretty darn good you know so that alone is a huge plus I was was born if I've been born my sister's here and she was born female and she's just as smart as I was everything but but even my own family who really did well particularly my dad Lov us all equally uh and and and in a terrific man manner but he still told me that that this is 10 well was born 10 years after the the 19th amendment was passed and but he told basically told my my sisters you know that marry young well you still have your looks and he told me that the world you know that power in you is new in nature and that uh you really could do anything well I find there were a lot of things I couldn't do but but uh it it the message given to females and males was incredibly uh different by the most well-meaning and loving of parents you know like I say in 1930 I mean it been that way for millions of years it's it changed quite dramatically but obviously not completely but during my lifetime but it's been during the latter half of my lifetime if you take my sisters if they've been born even five or 10 years later they they still would have been uh you know getting instructions when they went away to college to be sure and be sure and get married while or get R so that you're going to be married you know while you're in school because after you get out all the all the good ones are taken that was birie was was telling me that was a message that that you know basically was had been imparted uh to most of lot of the women she had met obviously and so it it really it's it's extraordinary how much progress we've made but it's it's unbelievable how long it took to get it made I mean it uh it really does make you wonder about you know we've got all these heroes from American history and all the wonderful things they did but but how could they say all men are created equal and then write a constitution that women you know love women not to be able to own property and depending on the state I mean just terrible conditions but anyway that's how you learn about what the humans can do [Applause]

Channel: CNBC Television

Views: 24,094

Keywords: 2023 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting, Berkshire, Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, Omaha

Id: 5zT-kqhPjyI

Length: 5min 32sec (332 seconds)

Published: Sat May 04 2024