When news of the crash came, probably a lot of people in small towns and farms across America felt a sense of grim satisfaction that the sinners had finally been punished for their wicked ways.

The best argument for mutual funds is that they offer safety and diversification. But they don't necessarily offer safety and diversification.

The mutual fund industry and small investors are very relentless and very unforgiving if people don't perform.

Mutual funds give people the sense that they're investing with the big boys and that they're really not at a disadvantage entering the stock market.

After 1929, so many people had been traumatized by the stock market crash that there was a lost generation.

The Great Inflation of the 1970s destroyed faith in paper assets, because if you held a bond, suddenly the bond was worth much less money than it was before.

As the bull market goes on, people who take great risks achieve great rewards, seemingly without punishment. It's like crime without punishment or sex without sin.