Long-Term Thinking Quotes

The individual is foolish; the multitude, for the moment is foolish, when they act without deliberation; but the species is wise, and when time is given to it, as a species it always acts right.

The longer you can look back, the farther you can look forward.

A politician thinks of the next election; the statesman thinks of the next generation

Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.

When we build ... let it not be for present delights nor for present use alone. Let it be such work as our descendants will thank us for, and let us think ... that a time is to come when these stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that men will say as they look upon the labor, and the wrought substance of them, See! This our fathers did for us!

My job, personally, is to do as much as I can to spread the warning that if we're not careful, it will end. The problem is, we don't think beyond our immediate needs.

When we own portions of outstanding businesses with outstanding managements, our favorite holding period is forever.

Albert Einstein when asked what he considered to be the most powerful force in the universe answered: Compound interest! What you have become is the price you paid to get what you used to want.

I plant a lot of trees. I am a great believer in planting things for future generations. I loathe the now culture where you just live for today.

Time is your friend; impulse is your enemy.

When we build, let us think that we build for ever.

Plan for what is difficult while it is easy, do what is great while it is small. The difficult things in this world must be done while they are easy, the greatest things in the world must be done while they are still small. For this reason sages never do what is great, and this is why they achieve greatness.

The difference between a politician and a statesman is: a politician thinks of the next election and a statesman thinks of the next generation.

You have to build businesses for longer term.

A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit.

Don't neglect the future in times of plenty, for tomorrow you may need what you wasted today.

We've got to stop the name-calling and we've got to stop looking at the next election. We've got to be focused on figuring out what we're doing for the next generation.

The framework I found which made the decision incredibly easy was what I called — which only a nerd would call — a “regret minimization framework.” So, I wanted to project myself forward to age 80 and say, “Okay, now I’m looking back on my life. I want to have minimized the number of regrets I have.”

Delaying gratification is a process of scheduling the pain and pleasure of life in such a way as to enhance the pleasure by meeting and experiencing the pain first and getting it over with. It is the only decent way to live.

Warren Buffett has said many times that people either get value investing in five minutes or they won't get it in five years. So, there is something in the human brain, that for some of us, makes all the difference in the world right away and the patience it requires is part of the wiring process.

Our problem is that we often expect instantaneous solutions to such challenges, forgetting that frequently the heavenly virtue of patience is required.

As we peer into society's future, we -- you and I, and our government -- must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for our own ease and convenience the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.

You should never get ahead of yourself car-wise; no Merc when you're still in the youth team, no Porsche unless you're a Premier League regular.

It's time to put country ahead of party. It's time to put the next generation ahead of the next election.