Money & Investing Quotes
Search and explore timeless lessons from investors, entrepreneurs, economists, and financial thinkers. Investment quotes get misattributed constantly, so every line here is labelled: either sourced to a named work, or marked as widely attributed when no original source could be identified.
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“The single greatest variable in long-term investment success is the ability to keep going.”
Nick MurrayAuthor on investor behaviour and adviceSourced: Simple Wealth, Inevitable Wealth, 1999Patience“Financial independence is the experience of having enough, and then some.”
Vicki RobinCo-author of Your Money or Your LifeSourced: Your Money or Your Life, 1992Saving“A budget is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went.”
Dave RamseyAuthor and broadcaster on debt reductionSourced: The Total Money Makeover, 2003Saving“Risk is what is left over when you think you have thought of everything.”
Carl RichardsFinancial planner and author of The Behavior GapSourced: The Behavior Gap, 2012Behaviour
Kind separates standalone lessons from lines that need their history or their maths explained. Quotes that need that explanation carry a context note, and are kept out of the quote of the day.
All quotes · 239
“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”
Warren BuffettChairman and CEO of Berkshire HathawaySourced: Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter, 2008ValuationBuffett credits the underlying idea to Benjamin Graham.
“We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful.”
Warren BuffettChairman and CEO of Berkshire HathawaySourced: Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter, 1986Market Psychology“Our favorite holding period is forever.”
Warren BuffettChairman and CEO of Berkshire HathawaySourced: Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter, 1988Long-Term Thinking“It is far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.”
Warren BuffettChairman and CEO of Berkshire HathawaySourced: Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter, 1989Value Investing“You only learn who has been swimming naked when the tide goes out.”
Warren BuffettChairman and CEO of Berkshire HathawaySourced: Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letterRiskAppears in a Berkshire shareholder letter; the exact year is not recorded here.
“Rule number one: never lose money. Rule number two: never forget rule number one.”
Warren BuffettChairman and CEO of Berkshire HathawayWidely attributed, original source not identifiedRiskWidely repeated by Buffett in interviews and talks over many years.
“Risk comes from not knowing what you are doing.”
Warren BuffettChairman and CEO of Berkshire HathawayWidely attributed, original source not identifiedInvesting“A low-cost index fund is the most sensible equity investment for the great majority of investors.”
Warren BuffettChairman and CEO of Berkshire HathawaySourced: Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter, 1996Index Investing“The stock market is designed to transfer money from the active to the patient.”
Warren BuffettChairman and CEO of Berkshire HathawayWidely attributed, original source not identifiedPatienceVery widely attributed to Buffett; no original source identified here.
“Time is the friend of the wonderful business, the enemy of the mediocre.”
Warren BuffettChairman and CEO of Berkshire HathawaySourced: Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter, 1989Business“The big money is not in the buying and selling, but in the waiting.”
Charlie MungerLongtime vice chairman of Berkshire HathawaySourced: Poor Charlie's AlmanackPatience“Invert, always invert: turn a situation or problem upside down.”
Charlie MungerLongtime vice chairman of Berkshire HathawaySourced: Poor Charlie's AlmanackBehaviour“All I want to know is where I am going to die, so I will never go there.”
Charlie MungerLongtime vice chairman of Berkshire HathawaySourced: Poor Charlie's AlmanackInvestingContext: Munger's joking shorthand for inverting a problem: work out what causes failure, then avoid it. On its own it reads as a remark about dying.
Munger's illustration of inversion as a thinking tool.
“It is remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent.”
Charlie MungerLongtime vice chairman of Berkshire HathawayWidely attributed, original source not identifiedMistakesAttributed to Munger in talks and collected writings.
“The first rule of compounding is to never interrupt it unnecessarily.”
Charlie MungerLongtime vice chairman of Berkshire HathawayWidely attributed, original source not identifiedCompounding“Knowing what you do not know is more useful than being brilliant.”
Charlie MungerLongtime vice chairman of Berkshire HathawayWidely attributed, original source not identifiedBehaviour“In the short run, the market is a voting machine, but in the long run it is a weighing machine.”
Benjamin GrahamAuthor and early architect of value investingSourced: The Intelligent Investor, 1949Valuation“The intelligent investor is a realist who sells to optimists and buys from pessimists.”
Benjamin GrahamAuthor and early architect of value investingSourced: The Intelligent Investor, 1949Value Investing“The essence of investment management is the management of risks, not the management of returns.”
Benjamin GrahamAuthor and early architect of value investingSourced: The Intelligent InvestorRisk“The investor's chief problem, and even his worst enemy, is likely to be himself.”
Benjamin GrahamAuthor and early architect of value investingSourced: The Intelligent InvestorBehaviour“The margin of safety is always dependent on the price paid.”
Benjamin GrahamAuthor and early architect of value investingSourced: The Intelligent InvestorMargin of Safety“An investment operation is one which, upon thorough analysis, promises safety of principal and an adequate return.”
Benjamin GrahamAuthor and early architect of value investingSourced: Security Analysis, 1934Investing“Know what you own, and know why you own it.”
Peter LynchFormer manager of the Fidelity Magellan FundSourced: One Up on Wall Street, 1989Investing“Far more money has been lost by investors preparing for corrections than has been lost in corrections themselves.”
Peter LynchFormer manager of the Fidelity Magellan FundWidely attributed, original source not identifiedMarket CrashesFrom Lynch's published commentary on market timing.
“The key to making money in stocks is not to get scared out of them.”
Peter LynchFormer manager of the Fidelity Magellan FundSourced: One Up on Wall StreetVolatility“Do not look for the needle in the haystack. Just buy the haystack.”
Jack BogleFounder of VanguardSourced: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing, 2007Index Investing“In investing, you get what you do not pay for.”
Jack BogleFounder of VanguardSourced: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing, 2007Index InvestingBogle's summary of the effect of costs on net returns.
“Time is your friend; impulse is your enemy.”
Jack BogleFounder of VanguardSourced: The Little Book of Common Sense InvestingBehaviour“The stock market is a giant distraction from the business of investing.”
Jack BogleFounder of VanguardSourced: The Little Book of Common Sense InvestingInvesting“Don't just do something, stand there.”
Jack BogleFounder of VanguardWidely attributed, original source not identifiedIndex InvestingBogle used this line repeatedly to argue against reacting to markets.
“Pain plus reflection equals progress.”
Ray DalioFounder of Bridgewater AssociatesSourced: Principles, 2017Mistakes“He who lives by the crystal ball will eat shattered glass.”
Ray DalioFounder of Bridgewater AssociatesSourced: PrinciplesRisk“Truth, or more precisely an accurate understanding of reality, is the essential foundation for any good outcome.”
Ray DalioFounder of Bridgewater AssociatesSourced: Principles, 2017Behaviour“Diversifying well is the most important thing you need to do in order to invest well.”
Ray DalioFounder of Bridgewater AssociatesSourced: PrinciplesDiversification“Risk means more things can happen than will happen.”
Howard MarksCo-founder of Oaktree Capital ManagementSourced: The Most Important Thing, 2011RiskMarks credits the formulation to Elroy Dimson.
“You cannot predict. You can prepare.”
Howard MarksCo-founder of Oaktree Capital ManagementSourced: Oaktree Capital memoMarket Psychology“The most important thing is not what you buy, but what you pay for it.”
Howard MarksCo-founder of Oaktree Capital ManagementSourced: The Most Important Thing, 2011Valuation“The riskiest thing in the world is the widespread belief that there is no risk.”
Howard MarksCo-founder of Oaktree Capital ManagementSourced: Oaktree Capital memoMarket Psychology“We may never know where we are going, but we had better have a good idea where we are.”
Howard MarksCo-founder of Oaktree Capital ManagementSourced: Mastering the Market Cycle, 2018Market Cycles“Never, ever invest in the present.”
Stanley DruckenmillerMacro investor and former manager of the Duquesne fundWidely attributed, original source not identifiedMarket PsychologyContext: Druckenmiller's shorthand for markets pricing what is coming rather than what is already here.
Druckenmiller's point that markets price the future, not current conditions.
“The way to build long-term returns is through preservation of capital and home runs.”
Stanley DruckenmillerMacro investor and former manager of the Duquesne fundWidely attributed, original source not identifiedInvesting“A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.”
Satoshi NakamotoPseudonymous creator of BitcoinSourced: Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, 2008TechnicalBitcoinContext: The opening line of the whitepaper's abstract. It states the design goal of the system, not a view on bitcoin as an investment.
“The root problem with conventional currency is all the trust that is required to make it work.”
Satoshi NakamotoPseudonymous creator of BitcoinSourced: P2P Foundation forum post, 2009TechnicalBitcoinContext: The reason the system was built: conventional money requires trusting banks and central banks to behave.
“We have proposed a system for electronic transactions without relying on trust.”
Satoshi NakamotoPseudonymous creator of BitcoinSourced: Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, 2008TechnicalBitcoinContext: The whitepaper's closing summary of what the design achieves.
“It might make sense just to get some in case it catches on.”
Satoshi NakamotoPseudonymous creator of BitcoinSourced: Email correspondence, 2009HistoricalBitcoinContext: Written weeks after the network launched, when bitcoin had no price and no exchange. It records how uncertain the project looked to its own author.
From early Bitcoin mailing-list correspondence.
“Bitcoin is the first engineered monetary system in human history.”
Michael SaylorExecutive chairman of Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy)Widely attributed, original source not identifiedTechnicalBitcoinContext: Saylor's framing of bitcoin as designed money rather than money that emerged by custom. It is an argument about monetary design, not about price.
“Whereas most technologies tend to automate workers on the periphery doing menial tasks, blockchains automate away the center.”
Vitalik ButerinCo-founder of EthereumWidely attributed, original source not identifiedTechnicalBitcoinContext: Buterin's summary of what a blockchain automates: the trusted party in the middle, rather than the work at the edges.
“To buy when others are despondently selling and to sell when others are avidly buying requires the greatest fortitude.”
John TempletonFounder of the Templeton Growth FundWidely attributed, original source not identifiedMarket Psychology“The four most expensive words in the English language are "this time it's different."”
John TempletonFounder of the Templeton Growth FundWidely attributed, original source not identifiedMarket CyclesCommonly attributed to Templeton; the phrasing and count of words vary between sources.
“The time of maximum pessimism is the best time to buy.”
John TempletonFounder of the Templeton Growth FundWidely attributed, original source not identifiedValue InvestingContext: Nobody identifies maximum pessimism except afterwards, which is why Templeton paired the idea with a fixed plan.
“Value investing is at its core the marriage of a contrarian streak and a calculator.”
Seth KlarmanFounder of the Baupost GroupSourced: Margin of Safety, 1991Margin of Safety“The single most crucial factor in investing is having a strategy and the discipline to stick with it.”
Seth KlarmanFounder of the Baupost GroupSourced: Margin of Safety, 1991Discipline“Avoiding loss should be the primary goal of every investor.”
Seth KlarmanFounder of the Baupost GroupSourced: Margin of Safety, 1991Margin of Safety“Choosing individual stocks without any idea of what you are looking for is like running through a dynamite factory with a burning match.”
Joel GreenblattFounder of Gotham Capital and authorSourced: The Little Book That Beats the Market, 2005Valuation“Value investing works. Sit still and be patient.”
Joel GreenblattFounder of Gotham Capital and authorSourced: The Little Book That Beats the Market, 2005Investing“The stock market is filled with individuals who know the price of everything, but the value of nothing.”
Philip FisherGrowth investor and author of Common Stocks and Uncommon ProfitsSourced: Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits, 1958Valuation“I do not want a lot of good investments; I want a few outstanding ones.”
Philip FisherGrowth investor and author of Common Stocks and Uncommon ProfitsSourced: Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits, 1958Long-Term ThinkingContext: Fisher ran a deliberately concentrated portfolio backed by years of research on every holding. Standing alone the line argues against diversification, which is the opposite of what most investors need.
“Try to buy assets at a discount rather than buying earnings.”
Walter SchlossValue investor who worked under Benjamin GrahamSourced: Factors Needed to Make Money in the Stock MarketValue InvestingContext: Schloss meant paying less than a company's assets are worth rather than paying up for its profits. The distinction needs the vocabulary to land.
From Schloss's published list of investing factors.
“Have the courage of your convictions once you have made a decision.”
Walter SchlossValue investor who worked under Benjamin GrahamSourced: Factors Needed to Make Money in the Stock MarketDisciplineContext: Schloss was arguing against being shaken out by price swings, not against changing your mind when the facts change.
“Heads I win; tails I do not lose much.”
Mohnish PabraiInvestor and author of The Dhandho InvestorSourced: The Dhandho Investor, 2007Value InvestingContext: Pabrai is describing an asymmetric bet, where the price paid caps the downside. It is not a claim that an investment cannot lose.
“I am a shameless copycat. Everything in my life is cloned.”
Mohnish PabraiInvestor and author of The Dhandho InvestorWidely attributed, original source not identifiedBehaviourContext: Pabrai openly builds on other investors' published ideas, after doing his own work on them. It is not an argument for copying trades you have not researched.
“The environment we operate in is more powerful than our willpower.”
Guy SpierInvestor and author of The Education of a Value InvestorSourced: The Education of a Value Investor, 2014Behaviour“Lowest average cost wins.”
Bill MillerFounder of Miller Value PartnersWidely attributed, original source not identifiedValuationContext: Miller's case for buying more as a price falls. It only holds if the original judgment about the business was right, and it is the opposite of Paul Tudor Jones' rule about averaging losers.
“Competitive advantage is really about barriers to entry.”
Bruce GreenwaldProfessor and author on value investing and competitionSourced: Competition Demystified, 2005Business“Value investing is not complicated, but it does require patience.”
Christopher BrownePartner at Tweedy, Browne and authorSourced: The Little Book of Value Investing, 2006Value Investing“Change is the investor's only certainty.”
Thomas Rowe Price Jr.Founder of T. Rowe PriceWidely attributed, original source not identifiedCompounding“I am only rich because I know when I am wrong.”
George SorosFounder of the Quantum FundWidely attributed, original source not identifiedMistakes“Markets are constantly in a state of uncertainty and flux, and money is made by discounting the obvious and betting on the unexpected.”
George SorosFounder of the Quantum FundWidely attributed, original source not identifiedMarket Psychology“It is not whether you are right or wrong, but how much money you make when you are right and how much you lose when you are wrong.”
George SorosFounder of the Quantum FundSourced: The Alchemy of Finance, 1987Risk“The most important rule of trading is to play great defense, not great offense.”
Paul Tudor JonesFounder of Tudor Investment CorporationWidely attributed, original source not identifiedRisk“Do not ever average losers.”
Paul Tudor JonesFounder of Tudor Investment CorporationWidely attributed, original source not identifiedMistakesContext: A trading rule about cutting losing positions. It sits directly against dollar-cost averaging into a broad index, which is a different activity with a different purpose.
“The amount you bet matters as much as whether you are right.”
Ed ThorpMathematician and author of Beat the DealerSourced: A Man for All Markets, 2017ProbabilityContext: Thorp was writing about position sizing, worked out mathematically across many repeated bets. The betting frame belongs to that setting.
“It is ludicrous to believe that asset bubbles can only be recognized in hindsight.”
Michael BurryFounder of Scion CapitalWidely attributed, original source not identifiedInvesting“Experience is making mistakes and learning from them.”
Bill AckmanFounder of Pershing Square Capital ManagementWidely attributed, original source not identifiedInvesting“Our mandate is to find the two hundred best companies in the world and invest in them, and find the two hundred worst companies and go short on them.”
Julian RobertsonFounder of Tiger ManagementWidely attributed, original source not identifiedTechnicalInvestingContext: Robertson describing his fund's long/short mandate: owning the companies he judged best and short selling the worst. Short selling carries losses that are not capped.
“The hardest thing over the years has been having the courage to go against the dominant wisdom of the time.”
Michael SteinhardtHedge fund manager and authorSourced: No Bull, 2001Behaviour“All bubbles break, all investment fads pass.”
Jeremy GranthamCo-founder of GMOSourced: GMO quarterly letterMarket Cycles“The market is incredibly inefficient and hard to work with, and it is truly humbling.”
Jeremy GranthamCo-founder of GMOSourced: GMO quarterly letterMarket CrashesContext: Grantham is describing how hard his own job is. Inefficiency does not make a market easy to beat, and the line is not an invitation to try.
“Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.”
Nassim Nicholas TalebAuthor of The Black Swan and AntifragileSourced: The Black Swan, 2007Risk“Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better.”
Nassim Nicholas TalebAuthor of The Black Swan and AntifragileSourced: Antifragile, 2012Risk“We are much better at doing than we are at understanding.”
Nassim Nicholas TalebAuthor of The Black Swan and AntifragileSourced: The Black Swan, 2007Mistakes“I always think about losing money as opposed to making money.”
Bruce KovnerFounder of Caxton AssociatesWidely attributed, original source not identifiedRisk“Investing is about having a strategy you can stick with, not the theoretically best one.”
Cliff AsnessCo-founder of AQR Capital ManagementWidely attributed, original source not identifiedDiscipline“A blindfolded monkey throwing darts at a newspaper's financial pages could select a portfolio that would do just as well as one carefully selected by experts.”
Burton MalkielEconomist and author of A Random Walk Down Wall StreetSourced: A Random Walk Down Wall Street, 1973Index Investing“Investing is not nearly as difficult as it looks. Successful investing involves doing a few things right and avoiding serious mistakes.”
Burton MalkielEconomist and author of A Random Walk Down Wall StreetSourced: A Random Walk Down Wall StreetInvesting“Investing is a loser's game: the winner is the one who makes the fewest mistakes.”
Charles EllisInvestment consultant and author of Winning the Loser’s GameSourced: Winning the Loser's Game, 1998Behaviour“The hardest work in investing is not intellectual, it is emotional.”
Charles EllisInvestment consultant and author of Winning the Loser’s GameSourced: Winning the Loser's GameIndex Investing“Investors should pursue a simple strategy of holding low-cost index funds.”
David SwensenLongtime chief investment officer of the Yale endowmentSourced: Unconventional Success, 2005Asset AllocationSwensen's advice specifically for individual investors.
“Investors should not expect to be rewarded for taking risk that can be diversified away.”
William SharpeEconomist and Nobel laureateWidely attributed, original source not identifiedRisk“The longer the holding period, the better stocks look relative to bonds.”
Jeremy SiegelProfessor and author of Stocks for the Long RunSourced: Stocks for the Long Run, 1994Asset Allocation“You can measure risk tolerance only after a real bear market, not before one.”
William BernsteinNeurologist turned author on asset allocationSourced: The Four Pillars of InvestingRisk“The correct strategy is the one you can stay with through the inevitable bad times.”
Larry SwedroeAuthor and researcher on evidence-based investingWidely attributed, original source not identifiedDiscipline“Simplicity is the master key to financial success.”
Rick FerriAdviser and author on index-fund portfoliosWidely attributed, original source not identifiedIndex Investing“It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.”
Adam SmithMoral philosopher and author of The Wealth of NationsSourced: The Wealth of Nations, 1776HistoricalEconomicsContext: Part of Smith's argument that self-interest coordinates supply. In the same book he warns repeatedly about merchants colluding against the public.
“Consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production.”
Adam SmithMoral philosopher and author of The Wealth of NationsSourced: The Wealth of Nations, 1776HistoricalEconomicsContext: Written against mercantilist policy that treated exports as the purpose of an economy. It is an argument about national policy, not about personal spending.
“Speculators may do no harm as bubbles on a steady stream of enterprise, but the position is serious when enterprise becomes the bubble on a whirlpool of speculation.”
John Maynard KeynesEconomist and author of The General TheorySourced: The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, 1936HistoricalSpeculationContext: Written after the 1929 crash, arguing that speculation is harmless around real enterprise and dangerous once it becomes the main event.
“Worldly wisdom teaches that it is better for reputation to fail conventionally than to succeed unconventionally.”
John Maynard KeynesEconomist and author of The General TheorySourced: The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, 1936BehaviourContext: Keynes was describing a bias he saw in professional money managers, not recommending that anyone follow the crowd.
“The long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead.”
John Maynard KeynesEconomist and author of The General TheorySourced: A Tract on Monetary Reform, 1923HistoricalEconomicsContext: Keynes was arguing that economists should not wave away short-run pain by pointing at long-run equilibrium. It is not a statement about investment horizons.
“Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.”
Milton FriedmanEconomist and Nobel laureateWidely attributed, original source not identifiedTechnicalInflationContext: The summary of monetarism: sustained inflation comes from money growing faster than output. Economists have argued over the claim ever since.
A formulation Friedman used repeatedly in lectures and writing.
“There is no such thing as a free lunch.”
Milton FriedmanEconomist and Nobel laureateSourced: There's No Such Thing as a Free Lunch, 1975EconomicsFriedman popularised rather than originated the phrase.
“Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.”
Milton FriedmanEconomist and Nobel laureateWidely attributed, original source not identifiedHistoricalEconomicsContext: A line from a decades-long argument about the growth of government. It is a political claim about policy, not guidance for a household.
“The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.”
Friedrich HayekEconomist and Nobel laureateSourced: The Fatal Conceit, 1988HistoricalEconomicsContext: The summary of Hayek's long argument against centrally planned economies.
“The price system is a mechanism for communicating information.”
Friedrich HayekEconomist and Nobel laureateSourced: The Use of Knowledge in Society, 1945TechnicalEconomicsContext: Hayek's central point about markets: a price carries information about scarcity and demand that no planner could gather.
“The rate of interest expressed in money is high or low according as the standard of value is depreciating or appreciating.”
Irving FisherEconomist known for work on interest, debt and deflationSourced: The Theory of Interest, 1930TechnicalInflationContext: An early statement of what is now called the Fisher effect: nominal interest rates move with expected inflation.
“Irrational exuberance is the psychological basis of a speculative bubble.”
Robert ShillerEconomist, Nobel laureate and author of Irrational ExuberanceSourced: Irrational Exuberance, 2000Speculation“Stock prices are far more volatile than the dividends they are supposed to represent.”
Robert ShillerEconomist, Nobel laureate and author of Irrational ExuberanceWidely attributed, original source not identifiedTechnicalVolatilityContext: Shiller's excess-volatility finding: share prices swing far more than the dividends they are supposed to represent.
“Diversification is the only free lunch in investing.”
Harry MarkowitzEconomist and founder of modern portfolio theoryWidely attributed, original source not identifiedDiversificationClosely associated with Markowitz's portfolio work.
“A portfolio should be judged as a whole, not as a collection of individual holdings.”
Harry MarkowitzEconomist and founder of modern portfolio theorySourced: Portfolio Selection, 1952Asset Allocation“Nothing in life is as important as you think it is while you are thinking about it.”
Daniel KahnemanPsychologist, Nobel laureate and author of Thinking, Fast and SlowSourced: Thinking, Fast and Slow, 2011Behaviour“We are blind to our blindness. We have very little idea of how little we know.”
Daniel KahnemanPsychologist, Nobel laureate and author of Thinking, Fast and SlowSourced: Thinking, Fast and Slow, 2011Mistakes“Losses loom larger than gains.”
Daniel KahnemanPsychologist, Nobel laureate and author of Thinking, Fast and SlowSourced: Thinking, Fast and Slow, 2011BehaviourA core finding of prospect theory, developed with Amos Tversky.
“People are risk averse for gains and risk seeking for losses.”
Amos TverskyCognitive psychologistSourced: Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk, 1979TechnicalProbabilityContext: A core finding of prospect theory: people take the safe option when facing a gain, and take risk to avoid locking in a loss.
“If you want people to do something, make it easy.”
Richard ThalerEconomist and Nobel laureateSourced: Nudge, 2008Saving“People are not rational calculating machines; they are humans with limited attention.”
Richard ThalerEconomist and Nobel laureateSourced: Misbehaving, 2015Behaviour“Investing should be more like watching paint dry or watching grass grow. If you want excitement, go to Las Vegas.”
Paul SamuelsonEconomist and Nobel laureateWidely attributed, original source not identifiedInvesting“Capitalism is a process of creative destruction.”
Joseph SchumpeterEconomist known for creative destructionSourced: Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, 1942HistoricalBusinessContext: Schumpeter coined the phrase to describe how new firms and technologies destroy established ones. The label carries the argument; the sentence alone only names it.
“Government is the only institution that can take a valuable commodity like paper and make it worthless by applying ink.”
Ludwig von MisesEconomist of the Austrian schoolWidely attributed, original source not identifiedHistoricalInflationContext: A polemical line from the Austrian-school case against government control of money, written amid the European inflations of the twentieth century.
“Stability is destabilising.”
Hyman MinskyEconomist known for the financial instability hypothesisWidely attributed, original source not identifiedTechnicalMarket CrashesContext: Minsky's financial-instability hypothesis in three words: a long calm encourages borrowing and risk-taking, which builds the fragility that ends it.
The compressed form of Minsky's financial instability hypothesis.
“Inflation is thought of as a cruel, and maybe the cruellest, tax because it hits in a many-sided way.”
Paul VolckerFormer chair of the US Federal ReserveWidely attributed, original source not identifiedInflation“There are no solutions, only trade-offs.”
Thomas SowellEconomist and authorSourced: A Conflict of Visions, 1987Economics“The first lesson of economics is scarcity: there is never enough of anything to satisfy all those who want it.”
Thomas SowellEconomist and authorSourced: Is Reality Optional?, 1993Economics“There is nothing so disturbing to one's well-being and judgment as to see a friend get rich.”
Charles KindlebergerEconomic historian and author of Manias, Panics, and CrashesSourced: Manias, Panics, and Crashes, 1978Market Cycles“Serial default is a nearly universal phenomenon as countries struggle to transform themselves.”
Carmen ReinhartEconomist and co-author of This Time Is DifferentSourced: This Time Is Different, 2009HistoricalMarket CrashesContext: A finding from eight centuries of sovereign-debt data. It describes national governments, not individual borrowers.
“Recoveries from financial crises are protracted affairs.”
Kenneth RogoffEconomist and co-author of This Time Is DifferentSourced: This Time Is Different, 2009HistoricalMarket CrashesContext: An empirical finding across many countries: recoveries after banking crises take longer than recoveries after ordinary recessions.
“Noise makes it very difficult to test either practical or academic theories about how financial markets work.”
Fischer BlackEconomist and co-author of the Black and Scholes modelSourced: Noise, 1986TechnicalEconomicsContext: From an address on why real market data is so hard to draw firm conclusions from.
“I take the market efficiency hypothesis to be the simple statement that security prices fully reflect all available information.”
Eugene FamaEconomist and Nobel laureateSourced: Efficient Capital Markets II, 1991TechnicalIndex InvestingContext: Fama's statement of the efficient-market hypothesis, the idea behind the case for index funds.
“Size and value characteristics help explain differences in average stock returns.”
Kenneth FrenchEconomist known for the Fama and French factor modelsSourced: The Cross-Section of Expected Stock Returns, 1992TechnicalEconomicsContext: The Fama-French finding that company size and valuation explain returns a single market factor does not.
Co-authored with Eugene Fama.
“Your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room.”
Jeff BezosFounder of AmazonWidely attributed, original source not identifiedBusiness“If everything you do needs to work on a three-year time horizon, then you are competing against a lot of people.”
Jeff BezosFounder of AmazonWidely attributed, original source not identifiedLong-Term Thinking“We are stubborn on vision. We are flexible on details.”
Jeff BezosFounder of AmazonSourced: Amazon shareholder letterBusiness“Innovation is saying no to a thousand things.”
Steve JobsCo-founder of AppleWidely attributed, original source not identifiedBusiness“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, so the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.”
Steve JobsCo-founder of AppleSourced: Stanford commencement address, 2005Success“Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”
Steve JobsCo-founder of AppleSourced: Stanford commencement address, 2005EntrepreneurshipContext: A send-off from a commencement speech, not advice about money.
Jobs quoted this from the Whole Earth Catalog.
“Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.”
Bill GatesCo-founder of MicrosoftWidely attributed, original source not identifiedBusinessWidely attributed to Gates; the phrasing varies between sources.
“Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they cannot lose.”
Bill GatesCo-founder of MicrosoftSourced: The Road Ahead, 1995Mistakes“There is only one boss: the customer.”
Sam WaltonFounder of WalmartSourced: Made in America, 1992Business“Control your expenses better than your competition. This is where you can always find the competitive advantage.”
Sam WaltonFounder of WalmartSourced: Made in America, 1992Entrepreneurship“Whether you think you can, or think you cannot, you are right.”
Henry FordFounder of the Ford Motor CompanyWidely attributed, original source not identifiedBusinessLong attributed to Ford; no primary source identified here.
“A business absolutely devoted to service will have only one worry about profits. They will be embarrassingly large.”
Henry FordFounder of the Ford Motor CompanySourced: My Life and Work, 1922MoneyContext: Ford's case for putting service first, stated as a certainty. Plenty of service-minded businesses never see large profits.
“The man who dies rich dies disgraced.”
Andrew CarnegieSteel industrialist and philanthropistSourced: The Gospel of Wealth, 1889WealthContext: Carnegie's argument that the rich should give their fortunes away in their lifetime. It is a claim about philanthropy, not about whether to build wealth.
“Put all your eggs in one basket, and then watch that basket.”
Andrew CarnegieSteel industrialist and philanthropistWidely attributed, original source not identifiedHistoricalBusinessContext: Carnegie was describing how he ran a steel company he personally controlled. Read as portfolio advice today it argues against diversification.
“I would rather earn one per cent off a hundred people's efforts than one hundred per cent off my own.”
John D. RockefellerFounder of Standard OilWidely attributed, original source not identifiedMoneyWidely attributed to Rockefeller; no primary source identified here.
“You have to be prepared for the bad times, because they always come.”
Jamie DimonChairman and chief executive of JPMorgan ChaseSourced: JPMorgan Chase shareholder letterLeadership“Luck is a dividend of sweat. The more you sweat, the luckier you get.”
Ray KrocBusinessman who built McDonald’s into a global chainSourced: Grinding It Out, 1977EntrepreneurshipContext: Kroc's line about persistence. Taken literally it denies the role of chance, which the record of successful businesses does not support.
“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”
Walt DisneyCo-founder of The Walt Disney CompanyWidely attributed, original source not identifiedEntrepreneurshipWidely attributed to Disney; no primary source identified here.
“The cowards never started and the weak died along the way. That leaves us.”
Phil KnightCo-founder of NikeSourced: Shoe Dog, 2016EntrepreneurshipContext: Knight used this line to describe persistence while building Nike. It should not be read as evidence that every failure reflects weakness.
“In this ever-changing society, the most powerful and enduring brands are built from the heart.”
Howard SchultzFormer chief executive of StarbucksSourced: Onward, 2011Leadership“Do not be afraid to cannibalise your own business.”
Reed HastingsCo-founder of NetflixWidely attributed, original source not identifiedLeadership“Our industry does not respect tradition. It only respects innovation.”
Satya NadellaChief executive of MicrosoftSourced: 2014LeadershipContext: Nadella was writing to his own employees about the software industry. "Our industry" has no referent away from that letter.
“Competition is for losers.”
Peter ThielCo-founder of PayPal and author of Zero to OneSourced: Zero to One, 2014BusinessContext: Thiel's argument is that competing on identical terms destroys margins, so founders should build something distinct. Without the argument the line just reads as contempt.
“Every moment in business happens only once. The next Bill Gates will not build an operating system.”
Peter ThielCo-founder of PayPal and author of Zero to OneSourced: Zero to One, 2014Entrepreneurship“Software is eating the world.”
Marc AndreessenCo-creator of the Mosaic browser and venture investorSourced: Why Software Is Eating the World, 2011BusinessContext: The title thesis of an essay that spends its length on the evidence. The sentence alone is a headline.
“I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.”
Estee LauderCo-founder of the Estee Lauder CompaniesSourced: Estee: A Success Story, 1985Entrepreneurship“Business opportunities are like buses; there is always another one coming.”
Richard BransonFounder of the Virgin GroupWidely attributed, original source not identifiedEntrepreneurship“Short-termism is a threat to long-term value creation.”
Larry FinkCo-founder and chief executive of BlackRockSourced: Annual letter to chief executivesLong-Term Thinking“Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.”
Elon MuskChief executive of Tesla and SpaceXWidely attributed, original source not identifiedEntrepreneurship“If you are afraid of taking risk, you cannot achieve anything big.”
Masayoshi SonFounder of SoftBankWidely attributed, original source not identifiedRiskContext: Son is describing venture investing, where most bets are expected to fail and a few pay for everything. Household finances do not work that way.
“Running bitcoin.”
Hal FinneyCryptographer and early Bitcoin contributorSourced: Public post, 2009HistoricalBitcoinContext: Finney posted this while running the software as one of the network's first users, days after it launched. It is a record of the moment, not a statement about investing.
Finney's note on running early Bitcoin software.
“Cryptographic technology has the potential to make the world a safer place for individual freedom.”
Hal FinneyCryptographer and early Bitcoin contributorWidely attributed, original source not identifiedTechnicalBitcoinContext: Finney was a cryptographer who worked on privacy tools long before bitcoin. The line states the political motivation behind that work.
“Trusted third parties are security holes.”
Nick SzaboComputer scientist who described smart contracts and bit goldSourced: Trusted Third Parties Are Security Holes, 2001TechnicalBitcoinContext: A security argument: any party you are required to trust is a party that can fail or be compromised.
“A smart contract is a set of promises specified in digital form, including protocols within which the parties perform on these promises.”
Nick SzaboComputer scientist who described smart contracts and bit goldSourced: Smart ContractsTechnicalBitcoinContext: Szabo's original definition, written years before any blockchain existed to run one.
“Hashcash was designed to make sending a message cost the sender a small amount of computation.”
Adam BackCryptographer and creator of HashcashSourced: Hashcash: A Denial of Service Counter-Measure, 2002TechnicalBitcoinContext: Hashcash was an anti-spam scheme. Bitcoin reused its proof-of-work idea to make producing a block costly.
“I am fascinated by the idea of a community where violence is impossible because participants cannot be linked to their true names.”
Wei DaiComputer engineer who proposed b-moneySourced: b-money, 1998TechnicalBitcoinContext: Wei Dai describing the motivation behind b-money, an early proposal cited in the bitcoin whitepaper.
“Automation of the way we pay for goods and services is already underway, and its ultimate consequences may be quite fundamental.”
David ChaumCryptographer and pioneer of digital cashSourced: Security Without Identification, 1985TechnicalBitcoinContext: Chaum was writing about digital payments in the early 1980s, long before online commerce existed.
“Bitcoin changes absolutely everything. I do not think there is anything more important in my lifetime to work on.”
Jack DorseyCo-founder of Twitter and founder of BlockWidely attributed, original source not identifiedBitcoin“We want to create more economic freedom in the world.”
Brian ArmstrongCo-founder and chief executive of CoinbaseWidely attributed, original source not identifiedBitcoin“Not your keys, not your coins.”
Andreas AntonopoulosAuthor of Mastering Bitcoin and educatorWidely attributed, original source not identifiedTechnicalBitcoinContext: A rule about custody: if someone else holds the private keys, you hold a claim on that party rather than the asset itself.
A phrase Antonopoulos popularised in talks about self-custody.
“Bitcoin is not a currency for criminals, it is a currency for the unbanked.”
Andreas AntonopoulosAuthor of Mastering Bitcoin and educatorWidely attributed, original source not identifiedHistoricalBitcoinContext: Said while the public argument about bitcoin was dominated by its use on illegal marketplaces.
“Bitcoin is an experiment. Treat it like a high-risk asset.”
Gavin AndresenEarly lead maintainer of Bitcoin’s reference softwareWidely attributed, original source not identifiedBitcoin“Doing well with money has little to do with how smart you are and a lot to do with how you behave.”
Morgan HouselAuthor of The Psychology of MoneySourced: The Psychology of Money, 2020Behaviour“Wealth is what you do not see.”
Morgan HouselAuthor of The Psychology of MoneySourced: The Psychology of Money, 2020Wealth“Good investing is not necessarily about earning the highest returns. It is about earning pretty good returns that you can stick with for the longest period of time.”
Morgan HouselAuthor of The Psychology of MoneySourced: The Psychology of Money, 2020Compounding“The highest form of wealth is the ability to wake up every morning and say, I can do whatever I want today.”
Morgan HouselAuthor of The Psychology of MoneySourced: The Psychology of Money, 2020Money“Savings can be created by spending less. You can spend less if you desire less.”
Morgan HouselAuthor of The Psychology of MoneySourced: The Psychology of Money, 2020Saving“The market always goes up, but it is a wild ride along the way.”
JL CollinsAuthor of The Simple Path to WealthSourced: The Simple Path to Wealth, 2016VolatilityContext: Collins is describing the broad US market across multi-decade periods, in a book that spends its length on the wild ride. The first half alone is not a guarantee.
Collins refers to the long-run history of broad US market indexes.
“You own the things you own and they own you.”
JL CollinsAuthor of The Simple Path to WealthSourced: The Simple Path to Wealth, 2016Saving“Money can buy many things, but nothing more valuable than your freedom.”
JL CollinsAuthor of The Simple Path to WealthSourced: The Simple Path to Wealth, 2016Wealth“You must gain control over your money or the lack of it will forever control you.”
Dave RamseyAuthor and broadcaster on debt reductionSourced: The Total Money Makeover, 2003Debt“Debt is dumb. Cash is king.”
Dave RamseyAuthor and broadcaster on debt reductionSourced: The Total Money Makeover, 2003DebtContext: Ramsey teaches a deliberately absolute rule because it works for people digging out of consumer debt. It is a plan, not a general account of how borrowing works.
“Automation is the key to making your financial system work without willpower.”
Ramit SethiAuthor of I Will Teach You to Be RichSourced: I Will Teach You to Be Rich, 2009Saving“A rich life means you can spend extravagantly on the things you love, because you cut costs mercilessly on the things you do not.”
Ramit SethiAuthor of I Will Teach You to Be RichSourced: I Will Teach You to Be Rich, 2009Money“A big part of financial freedom is having your heart and mind free from worry about the what-ifs of life.”
Suze OrmanPersonal finance author and broadcasterSourced: The Courage to Be Rich, 1999Saving“Money is something we choose to trade our life energy for.”
Vicki RobinCo-author of Your Money or Your LifeSourced: Your Money or Your Life, 1992Money“Wealth is not the same as income. Wealth is what you accumulate, not what you spend.”
Thomas StanleyResearcher and co-author of The Millionaire Next DoorSourced: The Millionaire Next Door, 1996Wealth“A part of all you earn is yours to keep.”
George ClasonAuthor of The Richest Man in BabylonSourced: The Richest Man in Babylon, 1926Saving“Wealth, like a tree, grows from a tiny seed.”
George ClasonAuthor of The Richest Man in BabylonSourced: The Richest Man in Babylon, 1926Compounding“The behaviour gap is the difference between what we should do and what we actually do.”
Carl RichardsFinancial planner and author of The Behavior GapSourced: The Behavior Gap, 2012Mistakes“Being right is not the same as making money, and being wrong is not the same as losing it.”
Jason ZweigFinancial journalist and commentator on The Intelligent InvestorWidely attributed, original source not identifiedMistakes“Spend less than you earn, and invest the difference sensibly.”
Jonathan ClementsFinancial journalist and authorWidely attributed, original source not identifiedSaving“The dominant determinant of long-term real-life investment returns is not investment performance but investor behaviour.”
Nick MurrayAuthor on investor behaviour and adviceSourced: Simple Wealth, Inevitable Wealth, 1999Patience“We invest in people, not just businesses.”
Ron BaronFounder of Baron CapitalWidely attributed, original source not identifiedLong-Term Thinking“I decided in advance how much I was willing to lose on every purchase.”
Nicolas DarvasDancer turned investor and author of How I Made $2,000,000 in the Stock MarketSourced: How I Made $2,000,000 in the Stock Market, 1960Discipline“The whole secret to winning in the stock market is to lose the least amount possible when you are not right.”
William O’NeilFounder of Investor’s Business DailySourced: How to Make Money in Stocks, 1988Mistakes“There is nothing new in Wall Street. There cannot be, because speculation is as old as the hills.”
Jesse LivermoreSpeculator whose career inspired Reminiscences of a Stock OperatorSourced: Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, 1923SpeculationSpoken by the narrator based on Livermore in Edwin Lefevre's book.
“It was never my thinking that made the big money for me. It was always my sitting.”
Jesse LivermoreSpeculator whose career inspired Reminiscences of a Stock OperatorSourced: Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, 1923Patience“Do not try to buy at the bottom and sell at the top. It cannot be done except by liars.”
Bernard BaruchFinancier and public officialWidely attributed, original source not identifiedSpeculation“The main purpose of the stock market is to make fools of as many men as possible.”
Bernard BaruchFinancier and public officialWidely attributed, original source not identifiedMarket PsychologyContext: A sardonic warning about crowd behaviour, from a speculator who lived through 1929.
“Risk management is at the core of everything we do.”
Ken GriffinFounder of CitadelWidely attributed, original source not identifiedBusiness“We do not override the models.”
Jim SimonsMathematician and founder of Renaissance TechnologiesWidely attributed, original source not identifiedTechnicalProbabilityContext: Simons describing how his fund worked: it followed its statistical models rather than the judgment of the people running it.
“The key is to buy when there is blood in the streets and everyone assumes the worst.”
David TepperFounder of Appaloosa ManagementWidely attributed, original source not identifiedMarket CrashesContext: Tepper is describing buying distressed assets with a professional's balance sheet and research behind him. The hard part is telling a temporary panic from a permanent loss.
“Investing is about predicting the future, and the future is inherently unpredictable, so the only sensible approach is a margin of safety.”
Li LuFounder of Himalaya CapitalWidely attributed, original source not identifiedMargin of Safety“Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up.”
Charlie MungerLongtime vice chairman of Berkshire HathawaySourced: Poor Charlie's AlmanackSuccess“Investment is most intelligent when it is most businesslike.”
Benjamin GrahamAuthor and early architect of value investingSourced: The Intelligent InvestorInvesting“The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan.”
Jack BogleFounder of VanguardSourced: Enough, 2008Investing“The stock market is a derivative of the real economy, not the other way around.”
Jack BogleFounder of VanguardSourced: Enough, 2008Money“In this business, if you are good, you are right six times out of ten.”
Peter LynchFormer manager of the Fidelity Magellan FundSourced: One Up on Wall Street, 1989Mistakes“Being too far ahead of your time is indistinguishable from being wrong.”
Howard MarksCo-founder of Oaktree Capital ManagementSourced: The Most Important Thing, 2011Behaviour“If you are not worried, you need to worry. And if you are worried, you do not need to worry.”
Ray DalioFounder of Bridgewater AssociatesSourced: Principles, 2017Behaviour“Invest for maximum total real return.”
John TempletonFounder of the Templeton Growth FundSourced: Sixteen Rules for Investment SuccessInvestingThe opening rule of Templeton's published list.
“Do not panic. The time to sell is before the crash, not after it.”
John TempletonFounder of the Templeton Growth FundSourced: Sixteen Rules for Investment SuccessMistakesContext: Templeton's point was to set your allocation before trouble arrives. Read as timing advice it asks for something nobody does reliably.
“He intends only his own gain, and he is in this led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention.”
Adam SmithMoral philosopher and author of The Wealth of NationsSourced: The Wealth of Nations, 1776HistoricalEconomicsContext: The only use of the phrase "invisible hand" in the book, in a passage about merchants preferring to invest at home.
“A large proportion of our positive activities depend on spontaneous optimism rather than on mathematical expectation.”
John Maynard KeynesEconomist and author of The General TheorySourced: The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, 1936HistoricalMarket PsychologyContext: Keynes was arguing against models that assume investors calculate their way to every decision.
The passage introducing what Keynes called animal spirits.
“To act on behalf of a group seems to free people of many of the moral restraints which control their behaviour as individuals.”
Friedrich HayekEconomist and Nobel laureateSourced: The Road to Serfdom, 1944HistoricalEconomicsContext: From Hayek's writing on the ethics of collective action, part of the same argument about planned economies.
“The illusion that we understand the past fosters overconfidence in our ability to predict the future.”
Daniel KahnemanPsychologist, Nobel laureate and author of Thinking, Fast and SlowSourced: Thinking, Fast and Slow, 2011Mistakes“Mild success can be explainable by skills and labour. Wild success is attributable to variance.”
Nassim Nicholas TalebAuthor of The Black Swan and AntifragileSourced: Fooled by Randomness, 2001Probability“If options are correctly priced in the market, it should not be possible to make sure profits by creating portfolios of long and short positions in options and their underlying stocks.”
Myron ScholesEconomist and Nobel laureateSourced: The Pricing of Options and Corporate Liabilities, 1973TechnicalRiskContext: The no-arbitrage principle behind the Black-Scholes option pricing model.
Co-authored with Fischer Black.
“A fundamental characteristic of our economy is that the financial system swings between robustness and fragility.”
Hyman MinskyEconomist known for the financial instability hypothesisSourced: Stabilizing an Unstable Economy, 1986Market Cycles“Prices are not merely ways of transferring money. Their primary role is to provide financial incentives to affect behaviour.”
Thomas SowellEconomist and authorSourced: Basic Economics, 2000Economics“The central bank's most important responsibility is maintaining confidence in the currency.”
Paul VolckerFormer chair of the US Federal ReserveSourced: Keeping At It, 2018HistoricalInflationContext: Written by a central banker who spent his chairmanship raising rates to break double-digit inflation. It reflects what that period taught him about institutional credibility.
“Every man has a right to his opinion, but no man has a right to be wrong in his facts.”
Bernard BaruchFinancier and public officialSourced: Baruch: My Own Story, 1957Market Psychology“The most important thing for a young man starting out is to establish a credit, a reputation, character.”
John D. RockefellerFounder of Standard OilSourced: Random Reminiscences of Men and Events, 1909BusinessContext: Quoted as Rockefeller said it, in the language of his time. The point about reputation and character applies to everyone.
“Diversification means always having to say you are sorry about something in the portfolio.”
William BernsteinNeurologist turned author on asset allocationSourced: The Investor's Manifesto, 2010Diversification“Stocks have historically been a better long-run hedge against inflation than bonds.”
Jeremy SiegelProfessor and author of Stocks for the Long RunSourced: Stocks for the Long Run, 1994Inflation“A bubble is a social epidemic whose contagion is mediated by price movements.”
Robert ShillerEconomist, Nobel laureate and author of Irrational ExuberanceSourced: Irrational Exuberance, 2000Speculation“The average long-term experience in investing is never surprising, but the short-term experience is always surprising.”
Charles EllisInvestment consultant and author of Winning the Loser’s GameSourced: Winning the Loser's GameInvesting“Investors must be willing to hold cash when no bargains are available.”
Seth KlarmanFounder of the Baupost GroupSourced: Margin of Safety, 1991Patience“Better a little caution than a great regret.”
George ClasonAuthor of The Richest Man in BabylonSourced: The Richest Man in Babylon, 1926Debt“Most people who become wealthy do so by living well below their means.”
Thomas StanleyResearcher and co-author of The Millionaire Next DoorSourced: The Millionaire Next Door, 1996Saving“High expectations are the key to everything.”
Sam WaltonFounder of WalmartSourced: Made in America, 1992LeadershipContext: Walton was describing how he set targets inside his own company. On its own it is encouragement rather than a method.
“All happy companies are different: each one earns a monopoly by solving a unique problem.”
Peter ThielCo-founder of PayPal and author of Zero to OneSourced: Zero to One, 2014Business“Information technology and business are becoming inextricably interwoven.”
Bill GatesCo-founder of MicrosoftSourced: Business @ the Speed of Thought, 1999HistoricalBusinessContext: Written when tying computing to business strategy was still a live argument. It reads as obvious now because the argument was won.
“Precious metals and collectibles have an unforgeable scarcity due to the costliness of their creation.”
Nick SzaboComputer scientist who described smart contracts and bit goldSourced: Bit Gold, 2005TechnicalBitcoinContext: Szabo's idea of unforgeable costliness: something stays scarce because it is expensive to produce. Bitcoin later engineered the same property.
“I learned that being right is not enough; you have to be right and survive.”
Ed ThorpMathematician and author of Beat the DealerSourced: A Man for All Markets, 2017Behaviour“A strategy that works most of the time but not all of the time is exactly what you should expect.”
Joel GreenblattFounder of Gotham Capital and authorSourced: The Little Book That Beats the Market, 2005Discipline“Focus on minimising downside while leaving upside open.”
Mohnish PabraiInvestor and author of The Dhandho InvestorSourced: The Dhandho Investor, 2007Margin of Safety“Risk is what is left over when you think you have thought of everything.”
Carl RichardsFinancial planner and author of The Behavior GapSourced: The Behavior Gap, 2012Behaviour“A budget is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went.”
Dave RamseyAuthor and broadcaster on debt reductionSourced: The Total Money Makeover, 2003Saving“Financial independence is the experience of having enough, and then some.”
Vicki RobinCo-author of Your Money or Your LifeSourced: Your Money or Your Life, 1992Saving“The single greatest variable in long-term investment success is the ability to keep going.”
Nick MurrayAuthor on investor behaviour and adviceSourced: Simple Wealth, Inevitable Wealth, 1999Patience
How we handle attribution
Famous investing quotes are misattributed more often than most people realise. A line gets repeated in a talk, then a blog post, then a thousand social posts, and the original speaker is quietly replaced by someone more famous. So we label rather than assume.
Sourced means we can point to a specific work: a book, a shareholder letter, a paper, an essay, or a recorded speech. Widely attributed means the line is consistently credited to that person but we could not identify an original source, so you should treat the wording as approximate. Quotes with a genuine attribution conflict are left out of this library entirely.
Quotes are kept short and are here for education and commentary. To read about the people behind them, browse the People directory.