I am trying to establish a sealed off space , inside which any noise , even the slightest breath , can help me in the search for myself . Trying to predict the future while ruminating on the past carries an inherent ridiculousness , just like the woodpecker on the telegraph pole .
Buffett answered in an email : " I just wrote out the list without much thought except to pick companies that we already owned as ' completed ' and then just pulled the other names out of a hat -- with an eye toward ridiculousness .