"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently."
— Warren Buffett
It Takes 20 Years To Build
It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.
About this quote
Buffett expressed this idea in The Tao of Warren Buffett (2006), and has repeated it in multiple settings over the years. The earliest documented sourcing in that compact form traces to the mid-2000s, though Buffett had addressed the same theme for decades — most notably in a 1991 memo to Salomon Brothers executives when he took over as interim chairman after the firm's treasury bond scandal: "Lose money for the firm, and I will be understanding. Lose a shred of reputation for the firm, and I will be ruthless." He has applied this standard equally to Berkshire's own managers.
Source
Interview with BBC, 2009
