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.

In security analysis the prime stress is laid upon protection against untoward events. We obtain this protection by insisting upon margins of safety, or values well in excess of the price paid.

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.

Those with the enterprise lack the money and those with the money lack the enterprise to buy stocks when they are cheap.

Mr. Market does not always price stocks the way an appraiser or a private buyer would value a business. Instead, when stocks are going up, he happily pays more than their objective value; and, when they are going down, he is desperate to dump them for less than their true worth.

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

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.