I don't know anyone who said on their deathbed: 'Gee, I wish I'd spent more time at the office.'

The list of qualities (an investor should have) include patience, self-reliance, common sense, a tolerance for pain, open-mindedness, detachment, persistence, humility, flexibility, a willingness to do independent research, an equal willingness to admit mistakes, and the ability to ignore general panic.

In the summer of 1990, I was buying stocks and I was probably three or four months early there. But we had a great rally in 1991.

When you sell in desperation, you always sell cheap.

If you can follow only one bit of data, follow the earnings - assuming the company in question has earnings. I subscribe to the crusty notion that sooner or later earnings make or break an investment in equities. What the stock price does today, tomorrow, or next week is only a distraction.

What makes stocks valuable in the long run isn't the market. It's the profitability of the shares in the companies you own. As corporate profits increase, corporations become more valuable and sooner or later, their shares will sell for a higher price.

You have to keep your priorities straight if you plan to do well in stocks.