The 75 Greatest Investing Quotes of All Time

Words can empower and inspire you in all aspects of life — including your investment journey. To that end, I’ve assembled 75 of the greatest investing quotes of all time to help you maintain the right mindset for investing success.

You’ll find plenty of great advice from stock market heavyweights like Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, and Peter Lynch. But you’ll also find some newer voices, tongue-in-cheek takes on money, and a few surprises, so be sure to read the whole list.

Whether you need a mental boost after a market downturn, motivation to explore new sectors, or are just looking for some keen observations on the mighty beast that is the stock market, keep reading for some of the best quotes about finance.

Bookmark this page and visit whenever you need to give your investment mindset a jump-start.

1-10: Warren Buffett Quotes on Investing 

Let’s start with the MVP of investing: Warren Buffett. (Related reading: What is ROE and Why is it Warren Buffett’s Most Important Number?)

“Rule No. 1 : Never lose money. Rule No. 2 : Never forget Rule No. 1.” ― Warren Buffett

“Wide diversification is only required when investors do not understand what they are doing.” ― Warren Buffett

“Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful.” ― Warren Buffett

“Investing is simple, but not easy.” ― Warren Buffett

“If a business does well, the stock eventually follows.” ― Warren Buffett

“I don’t look to jump over seven-foot bars; I look around for one-foot bars that I can step over.” — Warren Buffett

​​“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” ― Warren Buffett 

“If you aren’t willing to own a stock for 10 years, don’t even think about owning it for 10 minutes.” ― Warren Buffett

“You never know who’s swimming naked until the tide goes out.” ― Warren Buffett

“Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”

― Warren Buffett

11-21: Quotes About the Stock Market 

Ranging from hard truths to lighthearted humor, here are some of the best quotes about the stock market. (Related reading: How to Invest in Stocks for Beginners With Little Money)

“You never really know a stock until you own it.” — Walter J. Schloss

“The stock market is filled with individuals who know the price of everything, but the value of nothing.” — Phillip Fisher

“To build wealth it didn’t matter when you bought U.S. stocks, just that you bought them and kept buying them. It didn’t matter if valuations were high or low.

It didn’t matter if you were in a bull market or a bear market. All that mattered was that you kept buying.” ― Nick Maggiulli, Just Keep Buying: Proven Ways to Save Money and Build Your Wealth

“The trick is not to learn to trust your gut feelings, but rather to discipline yourself to ignore them. Stand by your stocks as long as the fundamental story of the company hasn’t changed.” — Peter Lynch, One Up on Wall Street: How To Use What You Already Know To Make Money in the Market

“Behind every stock is a company. Find out what it’s doing.” — Peter Lynch

“The main purpose of the stock market is to make fools of as many men as possible.” — Bernard M. Baruch

“If you don’t study any companies, you have the same success buying stocks as you do in a poker game if you bet without looking at your cards.” — Peter Lynch

“If you have trouble imagining a 20% loss in the stock market, you shouldn’t be in stocks.”  — John Bogle

“The stock market is the story of cycles and of the human behavior that is responsible for overreactions in both directions.” — Seth Klarman

“Never invest in a company without understanding its finances. The biggest losses in stocks come from companies with poor balance sheets.” — Peter Lynch

“Owning stocks is like having children – don’t get involved with more than you can handle.” — Peter Lynch

“The stock market is not a casino! A casino gives me drinks when I lose my money.” — Doug Boneparth

23-30: Quotes About Investing  

“All intelligent investing is value investing. Acquiring more that you are paying for. You must value the business in order to value the stock.” — Charlie Munger

“Given a 10% chance of a 100 times payoff, you should take that bet every time.” — Jeff Bezos 

“It’s not whether you’re right or wrong that’s important, but how much money you make when you’re right and how much you lose when you’re wrong.” George Soros 

“Markets teach. The lessons can be painful.” – Jeff Bezos 

“Don’t look for the needle in the haystack. Just buy the haystack!” — John Bogle

“In investing, what is comfortable is rarely profitable.” — Robert Arnott

“The biggest risk of all is not taking one.” — Mellody Hobson

“How many millionaires do you know who have become wealthy by investing in savings accounts?” — Robert G. Allen

“Do you know the only thing that gives me pleasure? It’s to see my dividends coming in.” — John D. Rockefeller

31-36: Quotes About Long-Term Investing Mindset 

“You get recessions, you have stock market declines. If you don’t understand that’s going to happen, then you’re not ready.” — Peter Lynch 

“The single greatest edge an investor can have is a long-term orientation.” — Seth Klarman

“Courage taught me no matter how bad a crisis gets … any sound investment will eventually pay off.” — Carlos Slim Helu

“Investing should be more like watching paint dry or watching grass grow. If you want excitement, take $800 and go to Las Vegas.” — Paul Samuelson

“We begin our lives as growth stocks, but end our lives as value stocks.” ― Nick Maggiulli, Just Keep Buying: Proven Ways to Save Money and Build Your Wealth

“It’s not how much money you make, but how much money you keep, how hard it works for you, and how many generations you keep it for.” — Robert Kiyosaki

37-51: Jesse Livermore Quotes on Investing 

“There is time to go long, time to go short and time to go fishing.” — Jesse Livermore

 “There is only one side of the market and it is not the bull side or the bear side, but the right side.” — Jesse Livermore

“Money is made by sitting, not trading.” — Jesse Livermore

“A prudent speculator never argues with the tape. Markets are never wrong, opinions often are.” — Jesse Livermore

“Never buy at the bottom, and always sell too soon.” — Jesse Livermore

“It isn’t as important to buy as cheap as possible as it is to buy at the right time.” — Jesse Livermore

“The stock market is a great leveler. It takes money from the impatient and gives it to the patient.” — Jesse Livermore

“It is not what the market does that matters, but rather how you react to it.” — Jesse Livermore

“The stock market is a no-called-strike game. You don’t have to swing at everything—you can wait for your pitch.” — Jesse Livermore

“The most important thing in trading is to control your emotions.”  — Jesse Livermore

“Wall Street never changes, the pockets change, the suckers change, the stocks change, but Wall Street never changes, because human nature never changes.”  — Jesse Livermore

“Set your own rules and stick to them; never argue with the market; never make a play you can’t afford; never give way to irrational exuberance. Above all, don’t be a sucker.” ― Jesse Livermore

“If there was any easy money lying around, no one would be forcing it into your pocket.”

 — Jesse Livermore

“Profits always take care of themselves but losses never do.” ― Jesse Livermore 

“Don’t anticipate! Wait until the market gives you the clues, the signals, the hints, before you move. Move only after you have confirmation. Anticipation is the killer. It is the brother to greed and hope.

Don’t make decisions based on anticipation. The market always gives you time. If you wait for the clues there will be plenty of time to execute your moves.” ― Jesse Livermore

52-65: Benjamin Graham Quotes on Investing

“To achieve satisfactory investment results is easier than most people realize; to achieve superior results is harder than it looks.” — Benjamin Graham 

“Obvious prospects for physical growth in a business do not translate into obvious profits for investors.” — Benjamin Graham 

“Invest only if you would be comfortable owning a stock even if you had no way of knowing its daily share price.” — Benjamin Graham 

“The individual investor should act consistently as an investor and not as a speculator.” — Benjamin Graham 

“In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run it is a weighing machine.” — Benjamin Graham  

“The intelligent investor is a realist who sells to optimists and buys from pessimists.” — Benjamin Graham 

“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” — Benjamin Graham 

“Successful investing is about managing risk, not avoiding it.” — Benjamin Graham 

“You must never delude yourself into thinking that you’re investing when you’re speculating.” — Benjamin Graham 

“The investor’s chief problem – and even his worst enemy – is likely to be himself.” — Benjamin Graham

“Buy not on optimism, but on arithmetic.”  — Benjamin Graham 

“Investing isn’t about beating others at their game. It’s about controlling yourself at your own game.”  — Benjamin Graham 

“Individuals who cannot master their emotions are ill-suited to profit from the investment process.”  — Benjamin Graham 

“A great company is not a great investment if you pay too much for the stock.” — Benjamin Graham

66-71 Quotes About Money 

“Make your goal more than money. Make it about helping people and creating a better future.” — Maxime Lagacé 

“My formula for success is rise early, work late and strike oil.” — J. Paul Getty 

“That man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest.” — Henry David Thoreau

“A fool and his money are soon parted.” — Thomas Tusser 

“A penny saved is a penny earned.” — Benjamin Franklin 

72-75 Quotes About Investing in Yourself 

Investing isn’t just about money — it’s about knowledge and self-advancement. Here are some great quotes about investing in yourself:

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” — Benjamin Franklin 

“There are two hedges I know of; one is cash and the other is knowledge.” — Bruce Berkowitz

“Never stop investing. Never stop improving. Never stop doing something new.” — Bob Parsons

“There is no more profitable investment than investing in yourself. It is the best investment you can make.” – Roy T. Bennett

---

• Share
• Share
• Tweet