Investment success cannot be captured in a mathematical equation or a computer program.

Buying's easier, selling's hard - [it's] hard to know when to get out.

A simple rule applies: if you don't quickly comprehend what a company is doing, then management probably doesn't either.

We buy expecting to hold a bond to maturity and a stock forever.

While it might seem that anyone can be a value investor, the essential characteristics of this type of investor-patience, discipline, and risk aversion-may well be genetically determined.

Selling, in particular, can be a challenge; many investors are tempted to become more optimistic when a security is performing well. This temptation must be resisted; tax considerations aside, when a security reaches full valuation, there is no longer a reason to own it.

Value investing is at its core the marriage of a contrarian streak and a calculator.