Warren Buffett, 89, is worth $89 billion (as of July 2019). Along with a number of other billionaire’s he has pledged to give away the bulk of his estate to charitable causes. According to published reports, Buffett, often called the Oracle of Omaha, intends to give away 99 percent of his fortune. Having lived as long as he has and created one of the most successful companies in America, Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett has great wisdom to share. Here is what Buffett has said about a number of issues of the day:

About wealth inequality in the U.S. and taxing the rich at higher levels:
“I’m fine with it. The wealthy are definitely undertaxed relative to the general population.  “I think the income tax credit is the best way to address that. That probably means more taxes for guys like me, and I’m fine with it.”

About Americans who achieve great wealth and success in business:
“It is beyond arrogance for American businesses or individuals to boast that they have ‘done it alone.’”

About the type of people that are best to hire:
“It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do…”When you have able managers of high character running businesses about which they are passionate, you can have a dozen or more reporting to you and still have time for an afternoon nap.” 

About investing in the stock market:
“Success in investing doesn’t correlate with IQ … what you need is the temperament to control the urges that get other people into trouble in investing.”
and…
“Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be a more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks.”

About making predictions about the stock market:
“We’ve long felt that the only value of stock forecasters is to make fortune tellers look good. Even now, Charlie [Munger, Buffet’s business partner] and I continue to believe that short-term market forecasts are poison and should be kept locked up in a safe place, away from children and also from grown-ups who behave in the market like children.”

About charitable giving:
“If you’re in the luckiest 1% of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99%.”