Quotes from Benjamin Graham

Wall Street people learn nothing and forget everything.

Those with the enterprise lack the money and those with the money lack the enterprise to buy stocks when they are cheap.

It is absurd to think that the general public can ever make money out of market forecasts.

The money cost of the reservoir plan literally fades into insignificance when it is compared with the financial burden which the great depression imposed on the nation.

Traditionally the investor has been the man with patience and the courage of his convictions who would buy when the harried or disheartened speculator was selling.

Although there are good and bad companies, there is no such thing as a good stock; there are only good stock prices, which come and go.

Good managements produce a good average market price, and bad managements produce bad market prices.

A great company is not a great investment if you pay too much for the stock.

The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy.

I quickly convinced myself that the true key to material happiness lay in a modest standard of living which could be achieved with little difficulty under almost all economic conditions.

Before you place your financial future in the hands of an adviser, it's imperative that you find someone who not only makes you comfortable but whose honesty is beyond reproach.

Have the courage of your knowledge and experience. If you have formed a conclusion from the facts and if you know your judgment is sound, act on it – even though others may hesitate or differ.

Knowledge is only one ingredient on arriving at a stock's proper price. The other ingredient, fully as important as information, is sound judgment.

Most of the time common stocks are subject to irrational and excessive price fluctuations in both directions as the consequence of the ingrained tendency of most people to speculate or gamble... to give way to hope, fear and greed.

It requires strength of character in order to think and to act in opposite fashion from the crowd and also patience to wait for opportunities that may be spaced years apart.

In security analysis the prime stress is laid upon protection against untoward events. We obtain this protection by insisting upon margins of safety, or values well in excess of the price paid.

Both individual skill (art) and chance are important factors in determining success or failure.

Undervaluations caused by neglect or prejudice may persist for an inconveniently long time, and the same applies to inflated prices caused by over-enthusiasm or artificial stimulants.

Even defensive portfolios should be changed from time to time, especially if the securities purchased have an apparently excessive advance and can be replaced by issues much more reasonable priced.

To be an investor you must be a believer in a better tomorrow.

The intelligent investor is a realist who sells to optimists and buys from pessimists.

In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run, it is a weighing machine.

Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

But investing isn't about beating others at their game. It's about controlling yourself at your own game.