John C. Bogle Quotes

“Buying funds based purely on their past performance is one of the stupidest things an investor can do.”

“Don't look for the needle in the haystack. Just buy the haystack!”

“Gunning for average is your best shot at finishing above average.”

“If the data do not prove that indexing wins, well, the data are wrong.”

“If your fund doesn't last for the long term, how can you invest for the long term?”

“Owning the stock market over the long term is a winner's game, but attempting to beat the market is a loser's game.”

“The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan. Stick to the good plan.”

“The grim irony of investing, then, is that we investors as a group not only don't get what we pay for, we get precisely what we don't pay for. So if we pay for nothing, we get everything.”

“The simple fact is that selecting a mutual fund that will outpace the stock market over the long term is, using Cervantes’ wonderful observation, like looking for a needle in the haystack. So I offer you Bogle’s corollary: Don’t look for the needle in the haystack. Just buy the haystack!”

“The stock market is a giant distraction to the business of investing.”

“The true investor will do better if he forgets about the stock market and pays attention to his dividend returns and to the operating results of his companies.”

“The two greatest enemies of the equity fund investor are expenses and emotions.”

“Time makes more converts than reason.”

“When there are multiple solutions to a problem, choose the simplest one.”