Peter Lynch Quotes

“A correction is a euphemism for losing a lot of money rapidly.”

“All the math you need in the stock market you get in the fourth grade.”

“Charts are great for predicting the past.”

“During the Gold Rush, most would-be miners lost money, but people who sold them picks, shovels, tents and blue-jeans made a nice profit.”

“Far more money has been lost by investors preparing for corrections, or trying to anticipate corrections, than has been lost in corrections themselves.”

“Gentlemen who prefer bonds don't know what they're missing.”

“Go for a business that any idiot can run - because sooner or later, an idiot probably is going to run it.”

“I can't recall ever once having seen the name of a market timer on Forbes' annual list of the richest people in the world. If it were truly possible to predict corrections, you'd think somebody would have made billions by doing it.”

“I deal in facts, not forecasting the future. That's crystal ball stuff. That doesn't work.”

“I don't know anyone who said on their deathbed: 'Gee, I wish I'd spent more time at the office.'”

“If you go to Minnesota in January, you should know that it's gonna be cold. You don't panic when the thermometer falls below zero.”

“If you spend more than 13 minutes analyzing economic and market forecasts, you've wasted 10 minutes.”

“In stocks as in romance, ease of divorce is not a sound basis for commitment.”

“In the long run, it's not just how much money you make that will determine your future prosperity. It's how much of that money you put to work by saving it and investing it.”

“In this business if you're good, you're right six times out of ten. You're never going to be right nine times out of ten.”

“It's human nature to keep doing something as long as it's pleasurable and you can succeed at it, which is why the world population continues to double every 40 years.”

“Just because you buy a stock and it goes up does not mean you are right. Just because you buy a stock and it goes down does not mean you are wrong.”

“Know what you own, and know why you own it.”

“Most investors would be better off in an index fund.”

“My method for picking stocks has never changed. When businesses go from crappy to semi crappy, there's money to be made.”

“No one has ever gone bankrupt without any debt.”

“Owning stocks is like having children. Don't get involved with more than you can handle.”

“Sell a stock because the company's fundamentals deteriorate, not because the sky is falling.”

“Spend at least as much time researching a stock as you would choosing a refrigerator. You shouldn't just pick a stock - you should do your homework.”

“Stocks are a safe bet, but only if you stay invested long enough to ride out the corrections.”

“The average movement of a stock in the New York Exchange this century between its high and its low has been 50 percent.”

“The best stock to buy is the one you already own.”

“The extravagance of any corporate office is directly proportional to management's reluctance to reward the shareholders.”

“The list of qualities an investor should have include patience, self-reliance, common sense, a tolerance for pain, open-mindedness, detachment, persistence, humility, flexibility, a willingness to do independent research, an equal willingness to admit mistakes, and the ability to ignore general panic.”

“The only way to lose money is to buy a stock, have it go down and sell it. That's the only way.”