If you are shopping for common stocks, choose them the way you would buy groceries, not the way you would buy perfume.

The only thing you should do with pro forma earnings is ignore them.

The determining trait of the enterprising (or active, or aggressive) investor is his willingness to devote time and care to the selection of securities that are both sound and more attractive than the average.

Obvious prospects for physical growth in a business do not translate into obvious profits for investors.

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

The market is a pendulum that forever swings between unsustainable optimism (which makes stocks too expensive) and unjustified pessimism (which makes them too cheap). The intelligent investor is a realist who sells to optimists and buys from pessimists.

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.