Arnold Van Den Berg Quotes

“Any market will gain respectability if it goes up high enough and any market will lose respectability if it goes down enough.”

“I don’t consider myself very bright. I never did well in school. I never did well on intelligence tests.

My mother took me to one of the best child psychologists after the war because I had a lot of problems, and he felt that I was permanently damaged in the brain because of malnutrition. I almost died from malnutrition.

I always had this image of myself that I wasn’t very smart, and the way I did in school proved that I wasn’t. But once I realized that if you dedicate yourself and you commit yourself, you can learn anything.”

“I went through a divorce, and I had a lot of problems, and getting my business going — I was depressed. I went to a psychiatrist and I told him this story. He said:

“This can be explained from a psychiatric standpoint. You got that image in your mind and you played that over into your subconscious. Once it gets into your subconscious, it programs you into that kind of person.

That’s what we teach in sports psychology. We have people visualize what they’re going to do, and their subconscious helps them.”

I never knew about the subconscious mind. The minute he told me that, I knew he hit a truth.

He said, “If you will do the same thing with your business, the same thing’s going to happen.”

I went home that night, I was on fire. I cleaned out my apartment, threw out everything, put my desk in the middle of the room. I said: I am going to start my business and I am not going to stop until it’s there. No matter what happens, total commitment.

I started reading everything about the subconscious mind, and I programmed myself. I used to hypnotize myself every day for 20 minutes. I learned hypnosis. I used it on my son for his sports. Tremendous breakthrough.

The thing I try to teach young people is, no matter what it is, if you put it in your mind, and you visualize, and you see yourself successful, it will make it happen.”

“I’m the richest guy in the world because I’m content with what I have.

I feel wealthier not because I have more money but because I’ve got health, good friendships, I’ve got a great family.

Prosperity takes all of these things into consideration: health, wealth, happiness, peace of mind.

That’s what a prosperous person is, not just a lot of money. That doesn’t mean anything.”

“Investing isn't about beating others at the game, it's about controlling yourself at your own game.”

“Most of the people who have accumulated the greatest wealth in this business have done so not by predicting the future, but by buying companies at such attractive prices, thereby discounting the majority of the problems people fear.”

“The world has changed, but people haven’t changed, and the mind hasn’t changed.

I believe if there’s a young guy that wants to start a business, if he’s willing to pay the price, if he’s willing to make the sacrifice, if he’s willing to do without some of the frills people think are necessary, he is going to make it.”

“Value investing does not appeal to the masses. If it did, you would never be able to buy a bargain.”

“Value investing is a way of life. I apply it to everything I do. It’s not just stock markets.”

“When stocks yield as much as bonds, you get the growth free.”

“Why would I retire? I go into my office and pick up dollar bills for 50 cents.

I’d rather be doing that than chasing a little white ball around the golf course in the hot sun.

What could be more fun than picking up dollar bills for 50 cents?”

“You can’t help but get paid if you do good. There’s no such thing in the universe.

If you serve people and you do a good job, and you love them and you take care of them like they are your family, there is no way you’re not going to make it. I don’t care who it is.”

“You never get a bubble until the public, the brokerage community, the financial institutions, the pension funds, and even the universities are all involved.”