Richer, Wiser, Happier: How the World's Greatest Investors Win in Markets and Life

The paradox here is that the slower road almost always proves to be faster in the end.

But time is the enemy of bad habits and the friend of good habits.

Fifth, said Templeton, the best way to find bargains is to study whichever assets have performed most dismally in the past five years, then to assess whether the cause of those woes is temporary or permanent.

Kahn’s defensive mindset reminds me of the warning that’s pounded into the heads of medical students: “First, do no harm.”

“It’s all about deferred gratification,” says Sleep. “When you look at all the mistakes you make in life, private and professional, it’s almost always because you reached for some short-term fix or some short-term high.… And that’s the overwhelming habit of people in the stock market.” Just think for a moment of the many unchecked impulses that rui

Sixth, said Templeton, “One of the most important things as an investor is not to chase fads.”

“Live on less than you make. Invest the difference at a positive rate of return. You cannot fail if you accomplish those two tasks.”

The future may be unpredictable, but this recurring process of boom and bust is remarkably predictable. Once we recognize this underlying pattern, we’re no longer flying blind.

Galbraith’s book A Short History of Financial Euphoria and reads me his single favorite piece of financial writing, which explores the causes of market euphoria: “The first [cause] is the extreme brevity of the financial memory. In consequence, financial disaster is quickly forgotten. In further consequence, when the same or closely similar circums