April 23, 2008: Quotes From The Great Masters (of investing)

After watching the ebb and flow of the markets and incessant babble of talking heads, I found it interesting to revert to some comments from those who live(d) large in the world of securities.

I hope you enjoy these as you take a deep breath and think LONG TERM.


Benjamin Graham - "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 and gamble."

Benjamin Graham - "I am no longer an advocate of elaborate techniques of security analysis in order to find superior value opportunities."

Georg Soros - "The financial markets generally are unpredictable. So that one has to have different scenarios. The idea that you can actually predict what's going to happen contradicts my way of looking at the market."

Jesse Livermore - "I don't buy long stocks to scale down. I buy them on a scale up."

Jesse Livermore - "The market does not beat them. They beat themselves, because though they have brains they cannot sit tight."

Carl Icahn - "In life and business, there are two cardinal sins. The first is to act precipitously without thought and the second is to not act at all."

Carl Icahn - "We have bloated bureaucracies in Corporate America. The root of the problem is the absence of real corporate democracy."

John Templeton - "Humility about how little I know has encouraged me to listen more carefully and more wisely."

John Templeton - "If you buy all the stocks at or below two times earnings, you will lose money on half of them because instead of making profits they will actually lose money....others will be mediocre performers. But the remaining big winners will go up and produce fabulous results and also ensure a good overall result."

Charlie Munger - "You have to have a passionate interest in why things are happening. That cast of mind, kept over long periods, gradually improves your ability to focus on reality. If you don't have the cast of mind, you're destined for failure even if you have a high I.Q."

Charlie Munger - "If you took our top fifteen decisions out, we'd have a pretty average record. It wasn't hyperactivity, but a hell of a lot of patience. You stuck to your principles and when opportunities came along you pounced on them with vigor."

Prince Alwaleed - "If I'm going to do something, I do it spectacularly or I don't do it at all."

Prince Alwaleed - "My wheels are running. My investments are local, regional and international."

Prince Alwaleed - "I'm not panicking and I'm not scared. I've been through Iraq, Afghanistan, the Gulf War, the Asia crisis and the Russian crisis."