巴菲特亲笔撰文：美国繁荣，女性是关键

    但对变革来说，更为强大的对手是某些人心中根深蒂固的观念，他们就是不能接受周围的世界变得和以往不同。我家就是一个例子。我有一个姐姐和一个妹妹。我们的父母和老师都认为我们三个的资质差不多，IQ测试实际上也证明了这一点。另外，在很长一段时间里，她们俩的“社交IQ”一直都比我高得多。（我们没做过这方面的测试，但相信我，在这一点上证据确凿。）

    但从我呱呱落地的那一刻起，我所面临的机遇就多于她们俩，就因为我是个男孩，而她们不是，尽管她们聪明而且品貌兼优。我们的父母在我们身上倾注了同样的爱，我们的老师也给了我们差不多的成绩。但总是有人告诉她们，对她们来说“结一门好姻缘”就是成功。当然，这些信息更多地通过暗示传递，而不是言语。与此同时，我所听到的是，这个世界上的一切机会都在向我招手。

    就这样，对我的最低要求成了对她们的最高要求，而且直到几十年前才有人想到要改变这种现象。现在，针对女性的结构性壁垒正在崩塌，真是谢天谢地。

    对女性来说，现在还存在着一个障碍，那就是太多的女性不断地给自己划下条条框框，劝说自己不要充分发挥潜力。我在这方面同样也有一些亲身体会。

    我认识几十位杰出而有魅力的女性，其中包括已故的凯瑟琳•格雷厄姆。她在很长一段时间里都是《华盛顿邮报》（Washington Post）的控股股东和首席执行官。凯瑟琳知道自己很聪明。但她被人洗了脑——我不喜欢这个词，但它很恰当。给她洗脑的包括她的母亲、她的丈夫，还有那些信奉男权至上的各色人等，特别是在事业方面。

    凯瑟琳的丈夫去世后，她身边的一些男性试图让她相信，她觉得自己能力不足实属合情合理，因为这样做符合他们自身的利益。这些人给凯瑟琳施加的压力让她痛苦不堪。幸运的是，凯瑟琳不仅聪明，而且内心强大。靠着这种力量，她把这些人的话抛诸脑后，没有把自己所继承的东西转交给他们。

    我和凯瑟琳在1973年相逢，迅速发现她有着与众不同的能力和性格。但她也确实出于性别原因而对自己有所怀疑。她很清楚这一点，但她的内心里一直有个声音在说：“男性永远都比你更了解企业经营”，而她也一直没能让这个声音安静下来。

    我告诉凯瑟琳，她得把别人摆在她面前的哈哈镜扔掉，然后通过反映现实的镜子来审视自己。我说：“这样，你就会看到一位能和任何人并驾齐驱的女性，无论是和男人比，还是和女人比。”

    但愿我能说在这一点上我取得了成功。实际情况当然对我有利：凯瑟琳掌权的18年间，《华盛顿邮报》的股价上涨了40多倍，原来的1块钱变成了40块钱。退休后，她写了一本非同凡响的自传，并因此获得了普利策奖。但她对自己仍然有些怀疑，由此可见这种女性毫无价值的观点能给人带来多深的影响，就连杰出的人也不例外。

    But an even greater enemy of change may well be the ingrained attitudes of those who simply can't imagine a world different from the one they've lived in. What happened in my own family provides an example. I have two sisters. The three of us were regarded, by our parents and teachers alike, as having roughly equal intelligence -- and IQ tests in fact confirmed our equality. For a long time, to boot, my sisters had far greater "social" IQ than I. (No, we weren't tested for that -- but, believe me, the evidence was overwhelming.)

    The moment I emerged from my mother's womb, however, my possibilities dwarfed those of my siblings, for I was a boy! And my brainy, personable, and good-looking siblings were not. My parents would love us equally, and our teachers would give us similar grades. But at every turn my sisters would be told -- more through signals than words -- that success for them would be "marrying well." I was meanwhile hearing that the world's opportunities were there for me to seize.

    So my floor became my sisters' ceiling -- and nobody thought much about ripping up that pattern until a few decades ago. Now, thank heavens, the structural barriers for women are falling.

    Still an obstacle remains: Too many women continue to impose limitations on themselves, talking themselves out of achieving their potential. Here, too, I have had some firsthand experience.

    Among the scores of brilliant and interesting women I've known is the late Katharine Graham, long the controlling shareholder and CEO of the Washington Post Co. (WPO) Kay knew she was intelligent. But she had been brainwashed -- I don't like that word, but it's appropriate -- by her mother, husband, and who knows who else to believe that men were superior, particularly at business.

    When her husband died, it was in the self-interest of some of the men around Kay to convince her that her feelings of inadequacy were justified. The pressures they put on her were torturing. Fortunately, Kay, in addition to being smart, had an inner strength. Calling on it, she managed to ignore the baritone voices urging her to turn over her heritage to them.

    I met Kay in 1973 and quickly saw that she was a person of unusual ability and character. But the gender-related self-doubt was certainly there too. Her brain knew better, but she could never quite still the voice inside her that said, "Men know more about running a business than you ever will."

    I told Kay that she had to discard the fun-house mirror that others had set before her and instead view herself in a mirror that reflected reality. "Then," I said, "you will see a woman who is a match for anyone, male or female."

    I wish I could claim I was successful in that campaign. Proof was certainly on my side: Washington Post stock went up more than 4,000% -- that's 40 for 1 -- during Kay's 18 years as boss. After retiring, she won a Pulitzer Prize for her superb autobiography. But her self-doubt remained, a testament to how deeply a message of unworthiness can be implanted in even a brilliant mind.