“When people tell you that thisvenerable firm or private investor invested X millions of dollars inthat entity and that it is a good investment, be skeptical and stay opento the option of running as far as you can in the opposite direction.We have all seen the biggest names on Wall Street along with thelargest sovereign wealth funds on the planet make the dumbest investmentsever made. Do your due diligence; ask the right questions, andmost important, check out the character of the people involved unlessyou want to end up being prey to another master of the universe àla Bernie Madoff.”

“I do not believe in the power of brand names or in emulatingany of the brand name investors out there. It is a fact that all—ifnot at least most—of the biggest names in American finance andindustry out there today have proven after the 2008 crisis to be someof the most incompetent people there are. Starting with the untouchableGoldman Sachs, who was bailed out by over $5 billion fromWarren Buffett, to AIG and Citibank, who were bailed out by thehundreds of billions of dollars from the Troubled Asset Relief Program(TARP), having a name and a history does not make you the brightestand the best. All it takes is one nincompoop with a huge ego or aboard of directors who think they are smarter than everyone else todestroy what has taken generations to build.”

“Difference between rich and wealthy? Wall Street bankers are rich but they are no wealthy.Wealthy people are the ones writing their checks.”

“trade and wealth creation is not all upside. It is failure, too.Failure is a necessary component to growth and success. Babe Ruthstruck out 1,330 times but also hit 714 home runs. We need to letfailing entities fail. Only then will successful people turn these enterprisesback into wealth-creating vehicles again. “Too big to fail” is aconcept that perpetuates failure and saps vitality from the rest of thewealth creators to do so.”

“Too many people today on Wall Street go for the quickbuck at the expense of their reputation and client satisfaction, therationale being “let’s make the money while we can and retire earlyin the sun.” For me, this is not a sprint but a marathon, besides thefact that, in my definition, overnight success is 15 years. Anyone whodoes not understand the basic tenets of this philosophy is not someoneI can or will do business with.”

“The wealth of America isn’t an inventory of goods; it’s an organic,living entity, a fragile, pulsing fabric of ideas, expectations, loyalties,moral commitments, visions, and people. To slice it up like an applepie and redistribute it would destroy it just as surely as trying to shareStephen Hawking’s intellect by sharing slices of his brain would surelykill him.”

“The question is not whether we should or should not regulate; itis how much should we regulate and who the regulators shouldbe. We went overboard on deregulation under Reagan. UnderBush, many people lost in the casino. Now we have the Obamaadministration overreacting and overreaching with regulation thatdoes the exact opposite of wealth creation. If we are to have changewe can believe in, then we could start by replacing the majorityof the lawyers in regulatory agencies with actual experienced, successfulbusiness veterans. They would have recognized the early warningsigns of many of the financial debacles created by the bubble-bustcycle.”