There are times when you should be completely out of the market, for emotional as well as economic reasons.

"If I buy stocks on Smith's tip I must sell those same stocks on Smith's tip. I am depending on him. Suppose Smith is away on a holiday when the selling time comes around?

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

If somebody had told me my method would not work I nevertheless would have tried it out to make sure for myself, for when I am wrong only one thing convinces me of it, and that is, to lose money. And I am only right when I make money. That is speculating.

If the unusual never happened there would be no difference in people and then there wouldn't be any fun in life. The game would become merely a matter of addition and subtraction. It would make of us a race of bookkeepers with plodding minds. It's the guessing that develops a man's brain power.

My main life lesson from investing: self-interest is the most powerful force on earth, and can get people to embrace and defend almost anything.

There are times when you should be completely out of the market, for emotional as well as economic reasons.