Benjamin Graham is the father of value investing based on price versus fundamental underlying business value. He was a college professor, successful investor, money manager, and the best selling author of the classic book ‘The Intelligent Investor’ and co-authored ‘Security Analysis’. He taught at Columbia Business School and UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. His top student, Warren Buffett, used his investing principles along with others from Phillip Fisher, and Charlie Munger to achieve the the title of richest person in the world.
Benjamin Graham’s investing method believed in buying companies for less than their intrinsic business value based on their stock price and market cap. One of his primary principles was to create a great risk/reward ratio on entry when a stock was at a low price versus what a company is worth. His exit strategy for a stock was selling the company as it reverted back closer to its true intrinsic business, asset, and cash flow value.
Here are ten of Benjamin Graham’s best quotes that reveal his method for value investing.
“Investing is a unique kind of casino—one where you cannot lose in the end, so long as you play only by the rules that put the odds squarely in your favor.” – Benjamin Graham
“The intelligent investor is a realist who sells to optimists and buys from pessimists.” – Benjamin Graham
“In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run, it is a weighing machine.” – Benjamin Graham
“An investment operation is one which, upon thorough analysis, promises safety of principal and an adequate return. Operations not meeting these requirements are speculative.” – Benjamin Graham
“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – Benjamin Graham
“Investing isn’t about beating others at their game. It’s about controlling yourself at your own game.” –
“The stock investor is neither right or wrong because others agreed or disagreed with him; he is right because his facts and analysis are right.” – Benjamin Graham
“The punches you miss are the ones that wear you out. —Boxing trainer Angelo Dundee.” – Benjamin Graham
“Buy cheap and sell dear.” – Benjamin Graham
“You will be much more in control, if you realize how much you are not in control.” – Benjamin Graham
“Abnormally good or abnormally bad conditions do not last forever.” – Benjamin Graham
“While enthusiasm may be necessary for great accomplishments elsewhere, on Wall Street it almost invariably leads to disaster.” – Benjamin Graham
