If you had to pick the most successful investor of the 20th Century, chances are you’d pick Warren Buffett. Buffett, 83, is worth more than US$58 billion, making him one of the wealthiest people in the world. He is the Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., a massive holding company that has shown remarkable growth and investor return under his direction. Buffett is also a philanthropist and has pledged to give away 99% of his huge fortune, much of it through the Gates Foundation. Despite his incredible wealth, Buffett lives a relatively frugal life in Omaha, Nebraska. Here’s a sample of his wisdom:

On Planning…
“Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”

On Patience…
“You do things when the opportunities come along. I've had periods in my life when I've had a bundle of ideas come along, and I've had long dry spells. If I get an idea next week, I'll do something. If not, I won't do a damn thing.”

On Mistakes…
“You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don't do too many things wrong.”

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

On Money…
“Money will not change how healthy you are or how many people love you.”

On Risk…
“Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing.”

On Being Super Wealthy…
“If you’re in the luckiest one per cent of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99 per cent.”

On Diversification…
“Wide diversification is only required when investors do not understand what they are doing.”

On Buying Stocks…
"Only buy something that you'd be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years."

On Investing…
“Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget rule No. 1.”