“The investor should be aware that even though safety of its principal and interest may be unquestioned, a long term bond could vary widely in market price in response to changes in interest rates.”

To enjoy a reasonable chance for continued better than average results, the investor must follow policies which are (1) inherently sound and promising, and (2) not popular on Wall Street.

Speculators often prosper through ignorance; it is a cliché that in a roaring bull market knowledge is superfluous and experience is a handicap. But the typical experience of the speculator is one of temporary profit and ultimate loss

In the world of securities, courage becomes the supreme virtue after adequate knowledge and a tested judgment are at hand.

Never mingle your speculative and investment operations in the same account nor in any part of your thinking.

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.

Real investment risk is measured not by the percent that a stock may decline in price in relation to the general market in a given period, but by the danger of a loss of quality and earnings power through economic changes or deterioration in management.

By developing your discipline and courage, you can refuse to let other people’s mood swings govern your financial destiny. In the end, how your investments behave is much less important than how you behave.

Mr. Market’s job is to provide you with prices; your job is to decide whether it is to your advantage to act on them. You no not have to trade with hime just because he constantly begs you to.

In other words, the market is not a weighing machine, on which the value of each issue is recorded by an exact and impersonal mechanism, in accordance with its specific qualities.

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

At heart, “uncertainty” and “investing” are synonyms.

The Reservoir plan is an engineering mechanism applied to the field of economics, and in its essence it has nothing to do with democracy or any other political philosophy.

We define a bargain issue as one which, on the basis of facts established by analysis, appears to be worth considerably more that it is selling for.

The defensive (or passive) investor will place chief emphasis on the avoidance of serious mistakes or losses. His second aim will be freedom from effort, annoyance, and the need for making frequent decisions.

Even the most conservative must realize that the recent transformation of surplus from an individual to a national disaster implies a scathing indictment of our capitalist system as it has now developed.

A stock is not just a ticker symbol or an electronic blip; it is an ownership interest in an actual business, with an underlying value that does not depend on its share price.

Successful investing professionals are disciplined and consistent and they think a great deal about what they do and how they do it.

Buy not on optimism, but on arithmetic.

The investor who permits himself to be stampeded or unduly worried by unjustified market declines in his holdings is perversely transforming his basic advantage into a basic disadvantage.

High valuations entail high risks.

The distinction between investment and speculation in common stocks has always been a useful one and its disappearance is cause for concern.

Wall Street has a few prudent principles; the trouble is that they are always forgotten when they are most needed.

The memory of the financial community is proverbially and distressingly short.

The sillier the market’s behavior, the greater the opportunity for the business like investor.