Knowing what you know

I read hundreds of annual reports every year. I don’t talk to any brokers—I don’t want to talk to brokers. People are not going to give you great ideas. The important thing is to know what you know and know what you don’t know. If you can extend the field of things that you know then so much the better. Obviously, if you understand a great number of businesses, then you have a better chance of succeeding than if you only understand a few. The important thing is to know the perimeter of your circle of confidence and to play within that circle—the bigger the better. But if something isn’t within my circle, I’m not going to be in that game. I found out about this Norwegian chess champion who’s 20 years old. At 80 you would think that I’m better than him, but I’m not, and if I play him, he is going to beat me. He is going to beat me in about three moves.