Don’t have time to read 960 pages? Here’s what you need to know.

“I didn’t get money from my parents, and I really didn’t want it. But I was born at the right time and place. I won the Ovarian Lottery.” (p. 43)

“The snowball just happens if you’re in the right kind of snow, and that’s what happened with me. I don’t just mean compounding money either. It’s in terms of understanding the world and what kind of friends you accumulate. You get to select over time, and you’ve got to be the kind of person that the snow wants to attach itself to. You’ve got to be your own wet snow, in effect. You’d better be picking up snow as you go along, because you’re not going to be getting back up to the top of the hill again.” (p. 830)

Family, romance, and bromance:

“Buffett began to be seen out with [Washington Post Publisher Katharine] Graham more and more. She made it her job to try to give him more polish. … [He] became a regular guest at Graham’s famous dinners, which he called her ‘Kay Parties.’ He enjoyed his status as the hayseed who was flummoxed by a lobster.” (pp. 424-425)

“While [first wife] Susie waffled, she made no move to get divorced. Susie was the type of person who never subtracted from but only added to her life, and she never thought of acting differently now. Meanwhile, she phoned Astrid Menks at the French Café over and over. ‘Have you called him yet?’ … Menks wasn’t exactly sure where Susie was headed, so she was terrified. But finally she made the call. Arriving at the door to cook a homemade meal, she found a cave filled with books, newspapers, and annual reports. Warren, who was incapable of functioning without female companionship, was desperate for affection … was obviously still a lonely, miserable man who had been reduced emotionally to an eleven-year-old boy. He needed feeding. His clothes were a wreck.” (pp. 454-455)

“The deal that Buffett made with [son] Howie concerning the rent for Howie’s farm was … linked with weight; the amount rose and fell with Howie’s poundage. Warren thought his son should weigh 182.5 pounds. When Howie was over the limit, he had to pay twenty-six percent of the farm’s gross receipts to his father. When he was under, he paid twenty-two percent. … Buffett couldn’t lose on this deal either. He got either more money or a thinner son.” (p. 520)