You must never delude yourself into thinking that you're investing when you're speculating.

As in roulette, same is true of the stock trader, who will find that the expense of trading weights the dice heavily against him.

The intelligent investor is likely to need considerable will power to keep from following the crowd.

A speculator gambles that a stock will go up in price because somebody else will pay even more for it.

It requires strength of character in order to think and to act in opposite fashion from the crowd and also patience to wait for opportunities that may be spaced years apart.

Most businesses change in character and quality over the years, sometimes for the better, perhaps more often for the worse. The investor need not watch his companies' performance like a hawk; but he should give it a good, hard look from time to time.

The investor with a portfolio of sound stocks should expect their prices to fluctuate and should neither be concerned by sizable declines nor become excited by sizable advances. He should always remember that market quotations are there for his convenience, either to be taken advantage of or to be ignored.