外刊阅读：Warren Buffett's life lessons to his children

Warren Buffett's life lessons to his children

By Daniella Genovese FOXBusiness

Published January 12, 2024 12:00pm EST

Despite growing up with more privilege than most, Warren Buffett's children were expected to address injustice in society and to try and support those who did not have the same opportunities they had.

It was just one of the many lessons the Berkshire Hathaway CEO instilled in his three children – and it stuck.

Howard Buffett has carried out a mission to do just that throughout his life, not only as a sheriff in Macon County, Illinois, but heading the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, one of the largest private charitable foundations in the U.S. that has been dedicated to improving the quality of life for the world’s most impoverished and marginalized populations since the late 1990s.

"My brother and sister and I grew up in a home where we were aware of a lot of things, our parents talked about those things," Howard Buffett told FOX Business. "As a result, we were expected to do everything we could to address anything that we saw in our lifetime that we thought was unfair, unjust…. try to level the playing field and support people who did not have the same opportunities that we had."

Howard G. Buffett, CEO of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, speaks onstage during the 2019 Concordia Annual Summit

During his stint as a sheriff, Buffett recalled walking into homes with "horrendous living conditions," including instances in which children were neglected and had not eaten in days. With his foundation, Buffett comes face to face with "such injustice in some countries," severe starvation and the displacement of thousands of refugees because of conflict.

His attention right now is on assisting Ukraine in fighting Russia by committing to spending half of the foundation's funding on the country. However, he has been on the ground in several war-torn communities, like the Democratic Republic of the Congo or the Sudan, to help them improve food security, conflict mitigation as well as combat human trafficking and public safety for decades.

Many of these goals are daunting, and Buffett admitted that it will be impossible to achieve some of them, such as global hunger.

Warren Buffett, left, listens as his son Howard Buffett speaks during an interview in New York

"This is where my pessimism and optimism kind of collide. We'll never solve global hunger. It isn't going to happen. That's a fact," he said. "Then you have to be optimistic enough to think that, OK, but I can have an impact on it. And I can certainly have an impact in certain areas."

Buffett said one of the things his dad told him and his siblings was to "stay within your circle of competence, but always challenge yourself," he said.

First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Yuliia Svyrydenko and Howard G. Buffett attend a press tour in Ukraine.

He was also reminded that failure was an important part of success.

"That's also something that my dad taught me is you can't be scared to fail," he said. "The way you're going to get the really good things done is because you have failed and you've learned what not to do, and you've learned what to do, and you've learned how to do it better."

One of the lessons Buffett is now instilling in others is to treat others the way you want to be treated and to surround yourself with good people.

Cooks are preparing dishes for Kharkiv residents on the Food Train in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Nov. 24, 2023.

"My dad always said, you can't do a good deal with a bad guy," Buffett recalled.

If you have "people around you that aren't working, that don't have the same goals and don't have the same agenda, they don't have the same values or principles, you have to get rid of them," he added.

Buffett made it clear that the foundation's team is dedicated to the work it does.

"I tell our staff all the time, think of the opportunity you have. We're spending hundreds of millions of dollars and trying to actually change some things in the world. Not everybody gets to do that."

Warren Buffett's life lessons to his children

沃伦巴菲特给他孩子的人生教训

Despite growing up with more privilege than most, Warren Buffett's children were expected to address injustice in society and to try and support those who did not have the same opportunities they had.

尽管巴菲特的孩子们在成长过程中享有比大多数人更多的特权，但他们被要去解决社会中的不公正问题，并支持那些没有像他们一样机会的人。

It was just one of the many lessons the Berkshire Hathaway CEO instilled in his three children – and it stuck.

这只是这位Berkshire Hathaway公司CEO向他的三个孩子灌输的众多经验教训之一，而且一直这样。

Howard Buffett has carried out a mission to do just that throughout his life, not only as a sheriff in Macon County, Illinois, but heading the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, one of the largest private charitable foundations in the U.S. that has been dedicated to improving the quality of life for the world’s most impoverished and marginalized populations since the late 1990s.

无论是作为Illinois州Macon县的一名警长，还是Howard G.巴菲特基金会的负责人，Howard Buffett一生都在执行这一使命。Howard G.巴菲特基金会是美国最大的私人慈善基金会之一，自20世纪90年代末以来，一直致力于提高世界上最贫困和边缘化人群的生活质量。

"My brother and sister and I grew up in a home where we were aware of a lot of things, our parents talked about those things," Howard Buffett told FOX Business. "As a result, we were expected to do everything we could to address anything that we saw in our lifetime that we thought was unfair, unjust…. try to level the playing field and support people who did not have the same opportunities that we had."

“我和我的兄妹在一个我们知道很多事情的家里长大，我们的父母会谈论这些事情”，Howard Buffett告诉Fox，“因此，会要求我们尽一切努力去解决我们一生中看到的任何我们认为不公平、不公正的事情，努力创造公平的竞争环境，支持那些没有我们所拥有机会的人。”

During his stint as a sheriff, Buffett recalled walking into homes with "horrendous living conditions," including instances in which children were neglected and had not eaten in days. With his foundation, Buffett comes face to face with "such injustice in some countries," severe starvation and the displacement of thousands of refugees because of conflict.

巴菲特回忆说，在他担任警长期间，走进了一些“生活条件恶劣”的家庭，包括孩子们被忽视，然后好几天没吃东西的情况。通过他的基金会，巴菲特亲眼目睹了“一些国家的这些不公正”、严重的饥饿情况，还有数千难民因冲突而流离失所。

His attention right now is on assisting Ukraine in fighting Russia by committing to spending half of the foundation's funding on the country. However, he has been on the ground in several war-torn communities, like the Democratic Republic of the Congo or the Sudan, to help them improve food security, conflict mitigation as well as combat human trafficking and public safety for decades.

他现在的精力集中在协助Ukraine对抗Russia上，承诺将基金会一半的资金用于该国。不过，几十年来，他一直都在刚果或苏丹等几个饱受战争蹂躏的社区实地工作，帮助他们改善粮食安全、缓解冲突以及打击人口贩运和公共安全。

Many of these goals are daunting, and Buffett admitted that it will be impossible to achieve some of them, such as global hunger.

其中许多目标都令人望而生畏，巴菲特也承认，其中一些目标是不可能实现的，比如全球饥饿。

"This is where my pessimism and optimism kind of collide. We'll never solve global hunger. It isn't going to happen. That's a fact," he said. "Then you have to be optimistic enough to think that, OK, but I can have an impact on it. And I can certainly have an impact in certain areas."

“这就是我的悲观和乐观发生冲突的地方。我们永远无法解决全球饥饿问题，这是不会发生的，这是事实”，他说道，“然后你必须足够乐观地这样思考到：好吧，但我还可以对它产生影响，我当然可以在某些领域产生影响”。

Buffett said one of the things his dad told him and his siblings was to "stay within your circle of competence, but always challenge yourself," he said.

巴菲特说，他的父亲告诉过他和他的兄妹们一件事：“保持在你们的能力范围内，但要经常挑战自己”，他说道。

He was also reminded that failure was an important part of success.

也提醒他失败是成功的重要一部分。

"That's also something that my dad taught me is you can't be scared to fail," he said. "The way you're going to get the really good things done is because you have failed and you've learned what not to do, and you've learned what to do, and you've learned how to do it better."

“我爸爸也教我说，你不能害怕失败”，他说道，“你能真正做好一件事情，是因为你失败了，然后你学到了不应该做什么，应该做什么，也学到了如何做的更好”。

One of the lessons Buffett is now instilling in others is to treat others the way you want to be treated and to surround yourself with good people.

巴菲特现在向他人灌输的一个经验教训是，用你想要被对待的方式对待他人，和优秀的人在一起。

"My dad always said, you can't do a good deal with a bad guy," Buffett recalled.

“我爸爸经常说，和糟糕的家伙在一起，你无法做好一件事情”，巴菲特回忆道。

If you have "people around you that aren't working, that don't have the same goals and don't have the same agenda, they don't have the same values or principles, you have to get rid of them," he added.

如果你“身边的人不工作，没有和你一样的目标和安排，也没有一样的价值观和原则，你需要远离他们”，他说道。

Buffett made it clear that the foundation's team is dedicated to the work it does.

巴菲特明确表示，基金会的团队致力于它所做的工作。

"I tell our staff all the time, think of the opportunity you have. We're spending hundreds of millions of dollars and trying to actually change some things in the world. Not everybody gets to do that."

“我一直告诉我们的员工，想想你所拥有的机会，我们花费数亿美元，尝试去真正改变世界上的一些事情，不是每个人都能做到这一点的”。