“Investing isn’t about beating others at their game. It’s about controlling yourself at your own game.”

It’s nonsensical to derive a price/earnings ratio by dividing the known current price by unknown future earnings.

The qualitative factors upon which most stress is laid are the nature of the business and the character of the management. These elements are exceedingly important, but they are also exceedingly difficult to deal with intelligently.

The value of any investment is, and always must be, a function of the price you pay for it.

Stocks can be dynamite.

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 invest, you must ensure that you have realistically assessed your probability of being right and how you will react to the consequences of being wrong.

The intelligent investor gets interested in big growth stocks not when they are at their most popular – but when something goes wrong.

The ideal form of common stock analysis leads to a valuation of the issue which can be compared with the current price to determine whether or not the security is an attractive purchase.

Every corporate security may be best viewed, in the first instance, as an ownership interest in, or a claim against, a specific business enterprise.

The intelligent investor should recognize that market panics can create great prices for good companies and good prices for great companies.

Avoid second-quality issues in making up a portfolio unless they are demonstrable bargains.

Price fluctuations have only one significant meaning for the true investor. They provide him with an opportunity to buy wisely when prices fall sharply and to sell wisely when they advance a great deal.

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

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

Buy not on optimism, but on arithmetic.

To have a true investment, there must be a true margin of safety. And a true margin of safety is one that can be demonstrated by figures, by persuasive reasoning, and by reference to a body of actual experience.

It’s about alleviating stress and controlling breathing. It’s about being balanced.

The audience is the controlling factor in the actor’s life. It is practically infallible, since there is no appeal from its verdict. It is a little like a supreme court composed of irresponsible minors.

As her sons have seen her: the mother in patriarchy: controlling, erotic, castrating, heart-suffering, guilt-ridden, and guilt-provoking; a marble brow.

I love controlling a race, chewing up an opponent.