1. ‘There is nothing new on Wall Street or in
stock speculation. What has happened in the past will happen again and again
and again. This is because human nature does not change, and it is human
emotion that always gets in the way of human intelligence.’ – Jesse Livermore
2.‘The reason that capital markets are,
have always been, and will always be inefficient is not because of a shortage
of timely information, the lack of analytical tools, or inadequate capital. The
Internet will not make the market efficient, even though it makes far more
information available, faster than ever before, right at everyone’s fingertips.
Markets are inefficient because of human nature – innate, deep-rooted,
permanent. People don’t consciously choose to invest with emotion – they simply
can’t help it.’ – Seth Klarman
3.’What
a company’s stock sells for today,tomorrow, next week, or next year doesn’t
matter. What counts is how the company does over a five – or ten-year period.’
– Warren Buffett
4.’Although
markets are generally good at estimating the magnitude of a contingent
liability, they are often poor at evaluating outcomes probabilistically.’ –
Jamie Mai
5.’Stocks
heavily owned and constantly monitored by institutions have often been amongst
the most inappropriately valued.’ – Warren Buffett
6.’If
you read a financial disclosure three times and cannot understand it, it is
intentional.’ – Jim Chanos
7.’If
the future could be told from a balance sheet, then mathematicians and
accountants would be the richest people in the world by now.’ – Peter Lynch
8.’Reward
excellent failures. Punish mediocre success.’ – Tom Peters
9.’Integrity
is just a ticket to the game. If you don’t have it in your bones, you shouldn’t
be allowed on the field.’ – Jack Welch
10.’There
should be present the greatest number of people with the ingenuity and
determination not to leave things just at their present, possibly quite
satisfactory, state but to build significant further improvements upon them.
Management must recognize and be attuned to the fact that the world in which
they are operating is changing at an ever increasing rate.’ – Philip Fisher
11.’When
given a choice of working hard to fix a base business or, instead, completing a
glamorous acquisition and crowing about its promise on the financial TV
stations, too many executives opt for the latter. A good portion of IBM’s
success was due to all of the deals it didn’t do.’ – Lou Gerstner
12.’There
are no predictable industries in which you can count on analysts’ forecasts.
Relying on these estimates will lead to trouble.’ – David Dreman
13.’Vanity
plays a great part in the willingness with which traders fall victim to
supposed ‘straight tips’. If, however, he will have the humility to believe
that he may be the thousandth rather than the first or second to hear the
bullish story, this lack of self-pride will probably be well rewarded. No one
ever attained a fortune by seeking the advice of others.’ – David Carret
14.’Most
bad companies stay bad, and most cheap stocks get cheaper. Once you realize
that, then you’re ready for investing in turnarounds situations.’ – Charles
Kirk, The Kirk Report
15.’Buying
a cyclical after several years of record earnings and when the P/E ratio has
hit a low point is a proven method for losing half your money in a short period
of time.’ – Peter Lynch
16.’If
you limit your investments to those situations where you are knowledgable and
confident, and only those situations, your success rate will be very high.’ –
Joel Greenblatt
17.’It
is the emotional nonprofessional investor who sends the price of a stock up or
down in sharp, sporadic and more or less short-lived spurts. The professional
investor has no choice but to sit by quietly while the mob has its day, until
the enthusiasm or the panic of the speculators and nonprofessionals have been
spent.’ – J. Paul Getty
18.’When
I see hysteria, I usually like to take a look to see if I shouldn’t be going
the other way. Just about every time you go against panic, you will be right if
you can stick it out.’ – Jim Rogers
19.’Only
1 in 100 survived the 1929-32 debacle if one was not bearish in 1925.’ –
Benjamin Graham
20.’It
is obvious that the inner glow that results from having held a winner last year
is of no importance in making a decision as to whether it belongs in an optimum
portfolio this year.’ – Warren Buffett
21.’While
one can know all there is to know about a few issues, one cannot possibly know
all one needs to know about a great many issues.’ – Bernard Baruch
22.‘Never
invest all of your funds. By maintaining a large cash reserve, I have been in a
position to take advantage of unforeseen opportunities as they developed.’ –
Bernard Baruch
23.’There
is a persistent overall tendency for equity to flow from the many to the few.
In the long run, the majority loses. The implication for the trader is that to
win you have to act like the minority. If you bring normal human habits and
tendencies to trading, you’ll gravitate toward the majority and inevitably
lose.’ – William Eckhardt
24.’The
unpredictability of Mr. Market’s moods and the pressure of competing with other
money managers can make it really hard to stick with a strategy that
hasn’t worked for years.’ – Joel Greenblatt
25.’In
no field is the old maxim more valid – that a little knowledge is a dangerous
thing – than in investing.’ – Bernard Baruch
26.’A
skilled operator in any field acquires an almost instinctive ‘feel’ which
enables him to sense many things even without being able to explain them.’ –
Bernard Baruch
27.’My
sense of insecurity keeps me alert, always ready to correct my errors. To
others, being wrong is a sense of shame; to me, recognising my mistakes is a
source of pride.’ – George Soros
28.’Curiosity
is the engine of civilisation. If I were to elaborate it would be to say read,
read, read, and don’t forget to talk to people, really talk, listening with
attention and having conversations, on whatever topic, that are an exchange of
thoughts.’ – Peter Cundill
29.’One
of the best rules anybody can learn about investing is to do nothing,
absolutely nothing, unless there is something to do.’ – Jim Rogers
30.
‘The most important attribute for success in value investing is patience,
patience, and more patience. The majority of investors do not possess this
characteristic.’ – Peter Cundill
