There is no point in being confident and having a small position.
Unfortunately, the more complex the system, the greater the room for error.
There is very little difference between speculation and investment. The only difference is basically that investments are successful speculations because if you successfully anticipate the future you make a speculative profit.
Start by assuming the market is always wrong, so if you copy everybody else on Wall Street, you’re doomed to do poorly.
Democracy, by its very nature, can’t be imposed on people. Democracy has to be the people deciding for themselves.
To others, being wrong is a source of shame; to me, recognizing my mistakes is a source of pride.
Changeless society is characterized by the absense of alternatives.
My sense of insecurity keeps me alert, always ready to correct my errors.
These public-private partnerships are very, very dangerous. The most rotten part of the financial system in the US consisted of the government sponsored entities. They really kicked off this crisis. The state should set the rules and enforce them but not become involved as a market player.
The hardest thing to judge is what level of risk is safe.
Increase your bets when you are confident and scale down your positions when you don’t have conviction.
Most of the poverty and misery in the world is due to bad government, lack of democracy, weak states, internal strife, and so on.
I don’t panic. The same thing applies to me as to everybody else, so I’m given to euphoria and despair. And I would say that I basically have survived by recognizing my mistakes.
Studying economics is not a good preparation for dealing with it.
If investing is entertaining, if you’re having fun, you’re probably not making any money. Good investing is boring.
To be successful, you need leisure. You need time hanging heavily on your hands.
I’m not better than the next trader, just quicker at admitting my mistakes and moving on to the next opportunity.
Discount the obvious, bet on the unexpected.
Playing by the rules, one does the best he can, irrespective of the social consequences. Whereas in making the rules, people ought to be concerned with the social consequences and not with their personal interests.
I’m only rich because I know when I’m wrong.