Peter Lynch Quotes

It isn't the head but the stomach that determines the fate of the stockpicker.

Most investors would be better off in an index fund.

The basic story remains simple and never-ending. Stocks aren't lottery tickets. There's a company attached to every share.

I think you have to learn that there's a company behind every stock, and that there's only one real reason why stocks go up. Companies go from doing poorly to doing well or small companies grow to large companies.

Long-term investing has gotten so popular, it's easier to admit you're a crack addict than to admit you're a short-term investor.

When you start to confuse Freddie Mac, Sallie Mae and Fannie Mae with members of your family, and you remember 2,000 stock symbols but forget the children's birthdays, there's a good chance you've become too wrapped up in your work.

Never buy anything that you can't illustrate on the back of a napkin.

There's no use diversifying into unknown companies just for the sake of diversity. A foolish diversity is the hobgoblin of small investors. That said, it isn't safe to own just one stock, because in spite of your best efforts, the one you choose might be the victim of unforeseen circumstances. In small portfolios, I'd be comfortable owning between three and ten stocks.

The biggest winners are surprises to me, and takeovers are even more surprising. It takes years, not months, to produce big results.

Your ultimate success or failure will depend on your ability to ignore the worries of the world long enough to allow your investments to succeed.

Stocks are a safe bet, but only if you stay invested long enough to ride out the corrections.

When you sell in desperation, you always sell cheap.

The person that turns over the most rocks wins the game. And that's always been my philosophy.

People who want to know how stocks fared on any given day ask, "Where did the Dow close?" I'm more interested in how many stocks went up versus how many went down. These so-called advance/decline numbers paint a more realistic picture.

If you have the stomach for stocks, but neither the time nor the inclination to do the homework, invest in equity mutual funds.

The Rule of 72 is useful in determining how fast money will grow. Take the annual return from any investment, expressed as a percentage, and divide it into 72. The result is the number of years it will take to double your money.

Invest in businesses any idiot could run, because someday one will.

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.

Long shots almost always miss the mark.

It only takes a handful of big winners to make a lifetime of investing worthwhile.

Never invest in anything that cannot be illustrated with a crayon

Although it's easy to forget sometimes, a share is not a lottery ticket... it's part-ownership of a business.

In stocks as in romance, ease of divorce is not a sound basis for commitment.

You can't see the future through a rearview mirror

I don't go near the money and the money doesn't go near me.

All the math you need in the stock market you get in the fourth grade.

Absent a lot of surprises, stocks are relatively predictable over twenty years. As to whether they're going to be higher or lower in two to three years, you might as well flip a coin to decide.

When even the analysts are bored, it's time to start buying.

In the long run, a portfolio of well chosen stocks and/or equity mutual funds will always outperform a portfolio of bonds or a money-market account. In the long run, a portfolio of poorly chosen stocks won't outperform the money left under the mattress.

Just because you buy a stock and it goes up does not mean you are right. Just because you buy a stock and it goes down does not mean you are wrong.

The best stock to buy is the one you already own.

You have to let the big ones make up for your mistakes.

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.

You get recessions, you have stock market declines. If you don't understand that's going to happen, then you're not ready, you won't do well in the markets.

The stock market really isn't a gamble, as long as you pick good companies that you think will do well, and not just because of the stock price.