What’s your favorite financial quote?

Warren Buffett, commenting on a company he had reviewed for investment:

“The assets were questionable, but the liabilities were solid.”

Once you spend money it’s just like it’s gone.

“No one ever went broke taking a profit.” — Philip Schneck

(My late maternal grandfather, sometime in the 1980s. Definitely was investing during the Great Depression, when he was a dress salesman, and was able to retire young in the 1960s. I wish I knew if he also bought on the way up in the 1920s — I only know that he was younger, and so would have had less capital to commit.)

“save, save, save” … my father

“Don’t Allow a winner’s game to become a loser’s game”. “Successful investment is all about common sense”. John Bogle

Americans are getting stronger. Twenty years ago, it took two people to carry ten dollars worth of groceries. Today, a five-year-old can do it. (Henny Youngman, on inflation)

“Compound interest is the 8th wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn’t, pays it.” Albert Einstein

In the short run, the market is a narrative machine, but in the long run, it is a narrative-debunking machine. -Barry Ritholtz

You can be right and still be a moron -Daniel Crosby

I’m going to cheat. I have two:

Probability interests me, and so I have a particular liking for Keynes’ “The markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent.”

Plus I think anyone who loves learning sees the truth in Franklin’s “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”

Fear and greed are the enemy of good investing

“When you’ve won the game, stop playing with the money you really need.” William Bernstein

“Exiting the market after a decline – and thus failing to participate in a cyclical rebound – is truly the cardinal sin in investing.”

Howard Marks

“Time in the market beats timing the market.” I don’t know who coined this adage.

Stocks in the short term are a voting machine, in the long term they are a weighing machine. – Graham

” The secret to the stock market is to buy a stock that’s going to go up in price. If it doesn’t go up, don’t buy it.” — Will Rogers

People first, then money, then things. – Suze Orman

‘Price is what you pay; value is what you get.’

Attributed to Benjamin Graham by Warren Buffett

“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six , result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery”
― Charles Dickens, David Copperfield

“When your outgo exceeds your income, your upkeep becomes your downfall.” Rick Rule I really like this one.

I like this one by Warren Buffett because it touches on an important topic in a funny way:

“Whether we’re talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down.”

“Enough” by Jack Bogle. One word and concept packs a powerful punch.

“Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.” – Thomas Edison. After too many years of investing, I have realized that even if beating the market long term was possible, I do not have the discipline or desire to put in the “perspiration” required.

Almost anything from Jack Bogle, but probably none better than “Stay the course.”