英文早读第141篇，选自巴菲特年度信，友才翻译。
BUFFETT PARTNERSHIP, LTD.
610 KIEWIT PLAZA
OMAHA, NEBRASKA 68131
TELEPHONE 042-4110
巴菲特合伙基金有限公司
基维特广场610室
内布拉斯卡，奥马哈, 68131
电话042-4110
May 29th, 1969
1969年5月29日
To My Partners:
致我的合伙人：
About eighteen months ago I wrote to you regarding changed environmental and personal factors causing me to modify our future performance objectives.
大约18个月前我写到考虑到变化的环境和个人因素，导致我修改未来业绩目标。
The investing environment I discussed at that time (and on which I have commented in various other letters) has generally become more negative and frustrating as time has passed). Maybe I am merely suffering from a lack of mental flexibility. (One observer commenting on security analysts over forty stated:" They know too many things that are no longer true.")
那时我讨论的投资环境（关于此我也在几封别的信中也评论过它）随着时间流逝变的更加负面和令人沮丧。或许我仅仅是思维灵活性不足罢了。（一个评论家关于超过40岁的股票分析师说到：“他们知道太多不再是对的事情了。”）
However, it seems to me that:(1) opportunities for investment that are open to the analyst who stresses quantitative factors have virtually disappeared, after rather steadily drying up over the past twenty years; (2) our 100 million of assets further eliminates a large portion of this seemingly barren investment world, since commitments of less than about 3 million cannot have a real impact on our overall performance, and this virtually rules out companies with less than about 100 million of common stock at market value; and (3) a swelling interest in investment performance has created an increasingly short-term oriented and (in my opinion) more speculative market.
然而，对我来说似乎：（1）对于侧重量化分析的分析师而言，开放给他们的投资机会几乎消失了，在超过20年稳定的榨取后；（2）我们的1亿美金资产进一步消灭了这明显贫瘠的投资世界很大一部分，既然少于300万美金的交易几乎对我们的整体表现没有实质影响，并且这几乎划掉了那些一般股市值少于1亿美金的公司；（3）膨胀的对投资业绩的兴趣导致增长的短期取向和（在我看来）更加投机的市场。
The October 9th, 1967 letter stated that personal considerations were the most important factor among those causing me to modify our objectives. I expressed a desire to be relieved of the (self-imposed) necessity of focusing 100% on BPL. I have flunked this test completely during the last eighteen months. The letter said: I hope limited objectives will make for more limited effort. It hasn't worked out that way. As long as I am "on stage", publishing a regular record and assuming responsibility for management of what amounts to virtually 100% of the net worth of many partners, I will never be able to put sustained effort into any non-BPL activiy. If I am going to participate publicly. I can't help being competitive. I know I don't want to be totally occupied with out-pacing an investment rabbit all my life. The only way to slow down is to stop.
1967年10月9日信中说到个人考量是引发我修订我们的目标中最重要的因素。我表达了想从必须100%聚焦在巴菲特合伙基金（自发加强的）中解脱出来的愿望。在最近18个月中这个测试完全不及格。信里说：我希望有限的目标将会导致更有限的努力。他并不是这样运作的。只要我在“台上”，发布常规的记录并且追求对管理几乎是很多合伙人100%净资产的自认，我就永不会对任何非巴菲特合伙基金的活动付出持续的努力。如果我公开参加什么，我就忍不住想变得有竞争力。我知道我不想一生完全被和投资这只兔子的赛跑所占据。唯一可以慢下来的方式就是停止。
1.frustrating：令人沮丧的；令人懊恼的
2.mental：精神的；智力的；思想的；思考的
3.flexibility：灵活性；弹性；柔韧性
4.seemingly：看似；表面上；看来；貌似
5.barren：贫瘠的；不毛的；不结果实的
6.rule out：排除；使成为不可能；阻止……发生
7.swelling：膨胀；肿胀；增大；扩大
8.self-imposed：自己加强的；自愿负担的
9.flunk：（给某人）不及格；（考试、测试等）失败
10.sustained：持续的；持久的
