25 Best Benjamin Graham Quotes On Investing

Investopaper

Benjamin Graham is the root from which the branches of value investing spring. He has been acclaimed as the father of value investing as well as the father of security analysis. Warren Buffet, the world-renowned value investor is the disciple of Benjamin Graham.

Through his books ‘The Intelligent Investor’ and ‘Security Analysis’, he popularized the concept of value investing. His approach is more focused on the quantitative side of the business rather than the qualitative aspect. His famous cigar butt approach to investing inspired several of his disciples including Warren Buffett. The “cigar-butt” strategy included purchasing stocks with a price less than the per-share net asset value.

He urged investors to buy stocks with an intrinsic value higher than the current market price and discouraged to pay a premium price for any stocks without exception. He also introduced the concept of ‘Margin of Safety’ in investment operation.

Here we present you the best quotes by Benjamin Graham. Following in Graham’s footsteps might minimize the huge capital losses from investing in stocks along with generating decent returns on investment.

Best Benjamin Graham Quotes

1. “An investment operation is one which, upon thorough analysis promises safety of principal and an adequate return. Operations not meeting these requirements are speculative.”

2. “In the world of securities, courage becomes the supreme virtue after adequate knowledge and a tested judgment are at hand.”

3. “The speculator’s primary interest lies in anticipating and profiting from market fluctuations. The investor’s primary interest lies in acquiring and holding suitable securities at suitable prices.”

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

5. “Successful investing is about managing risk, not avoiding it.”

6. “To have a true investment, there must be a true margin of safety. And a true margin of safety is one that can be demonstrated by figures, by persuasive reasoning, and by reference to a body of actual experience.”

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

8. “The market is a pendulum that forever swings between unsustainable optimism (which makes stocks too expensive) and unjustified pessimism (which makes them too cheap). The intelligent investor is a realist who sells to optimists and buys from pessimists.”

9. “Stock speculation is largely a matter of A trying to decide what B, C, and D are likely to think-with B, C, and D trying to do the same.”

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

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

12. “An intelligent investor gets satisfaction from the thought that his operations are exactly opposite to those of the crowd.”

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

14. “Successful investing professionals are disciplined and consistent and they think a great deal about what they do and how they do it.”

15. “By refusing to pay too much for an investment, you minimize the chances that your wealth will ever disappear or suddenly be destroyed.”

16. “The fault, dear investor, is not in our stars and no in our stocks but in ourselves”

17. “The investor with a portfolio of sound stocks should expect their prices to fluctuate and should neither be concerned by sizable declines nor become excited by sizable advances. He should always remember that market quotations are there for his convenience, either to be taken advantage of or to be ignored.”

18. “The investor who permits himself to be stampeded or unduly worried by unjustified market declines in his holdings is perversely transforming his basic advantage into a basic disadvantage.”

19. “The intelligent investor should recognize that market panics can create great prices for good companies and good prices for great companies.”

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

21. “Even the intelligent investor is likely to need considerable will power to keep from following the crowd.”

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

23. “Never mingle your speculative and investment operations in the same account, nor in any part of your thinking.”

24. “The chief losses to investors come from the purchase of low-quality securities at times of favorable business conditions.”

25. ” Investment is most intelligent when it is most businesslike.”