The average man doesn't wish to be told that it is a bull or a bear market. What he desires is to be told specifically which particular stock to buy or sell. He wants to get something for nothing. He does not wish to work. He doesn't even wish to have to think.
Interpretation
People often prefer simple solutions over deep understanding or effort.
This quote reflects the tendency of many individuals to seek quick, easy answers in the complex world of investing rather than engaging in the thought and labor involved in understanding the market. It highlights a common desire for effortless gains and avoidance of responsibility, pushing against the notion that true success requires work and analysis.
In practice
In a financial seminar discussing the mindset of investors.
After spending many years in Wall Street and after making and losing millions of dollars I want to tell you this: It never was my thinking that made the big money for me. It always was my sitting. Got that? My sitting tight!
Don't take action with a trade until the market, itself, confirms your opinion. Being a little late in a trade is insurance that your opinion is correct. In other words, don't be an impatient trader.
At long as a stock is acting right, and the market is right, do not be in a hurry to take profits. One should never permit speculative ventures to run into investments.
He really meant to tell them that the big money was not in the individual fluctuations but in the main movements that is, not in reading the tape but in sizing up the entire market and its trend.
Men who can both be right and sit tight are uncommon. I found it one of the hardest things to learn. But it is only after a stock operator has firmly grasped this that he can make big money.
It is what people actually did in the stock market that counted - not what they said they were going to do.
Because I remember, I despair. Because I remember, I have the duty to reject despair.
I feel I'm doing what I should've done a lifetime ago. For a little while I'm not afraid. Maybe it's because I'm doing the right thing at last. Maybe it's because I've done a rash thing and don't want to look the coward to you.
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.
We must beat the iron while it is hot, but we may polish it at leisure.
True, I am young, but for souls nobly born valor doesn't await the passing of years.
All wars are won or lost before they are ever fought.
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