“To test if you are worrying too much about looking good, observe how you feel when you find out you’ve made a mistake or don’t know something.”

Be wary of the arrogant intellectual who comments from the stands without having played on the field.

I’m going to give away a lot more than half my money. I’d be happy to give that to the government if the government put together programs that were like I’m giving away to charity, in which I believe the money is effectively used to help people.

Meditation more than anything in my life was the biggest ingredient of whatever success I’ve had.

Though how nature works is way beyond man’s ability to comprehend, I have found that observing how nature works offers innumerable lessons that can help us understand the realities that affect us.

Ask yourself whether you have earned the right to have an opinion. Opinions are easy to produce, so bad ones abound. Knowing that you don’t know something is nearly as valuable as knowing it. The worst situation is thinking you know something when you don’t.

Constantly probe the people who report to you, and encourage them to probe you.

Some people who are creative are not reliable and vice versa; some see big pictures while others see details, etc. All of them are important to have on well-orchestrated teams.

I believe that we all get rewarded and punished according to whether we operate in harmony or in conflict with nature’s laws, and that all societies will succeed or fail in the degrees that they operate consistently with these laws.

In the end, what matters most is that the people you work with share your values, so I’ve wanted people who value the meaningful work and meaningful relationships that always motivated me in building Bridgewater.

There is an excellent correlation between giving society what it wants and making money, and almost no correlation between the desire to make money and how much money one makes.

Principles are what allow you to live a life consistent with those values. Principles connect your values to your actions.

Life is like a giant smorgasbord of more delicious alternatives than you can ever hope to taste. So you have to reject having some things you want in order to get other things you want more.

It all comes down to interest rates. As an investor, all you’re doing is putting up a lump-sump payment for a future cash flow.

There is giant untapped potential in disagreement, especially if the disagreement is between two or more thoughtful people.

There are two main drivers of asset class returns – inflation and growth.

He who lives by the crystal ball will eat shattered glass.

If the truth were to be known, everyone would be wearing a scarlet letter of one form or another.

The good thing about masturbation is that you don’t have to get dressed up for it.

Keep your jacket buttoned. Always. It’s just really flattering—it will take pounds off you.

I find nothing so singular to life as that everything appears to lose its substance the instant one actually grapples with it.

Not all the monsters have fangs.

Things are never as bad as they seem.

Some nights I wear nothing but the thought of you, and I am breathtaking.

Revolutions are spiritual acts. They appear first in people, then in politics and the economy. New people form new structures. The transformation we want is first of all spiritual; that will necessarily change the way things are.