49 timeless quotes on investing and life
"Find the 200 best companies in the world and invest in them. Find the 200 worst and go short."
— Julian Robertson
"Smart idea, grounded on exhaustive research, followed by a big bet."
— Julian Robertson
"Avoid big losses. That's the way to really make money over the years."
— Julian Robertson
"Go long the best companies in an industry and short the worst. This hedged approach reduces market risk while profiting from the spread between winners and losers."Read Full Analysis →
"Know more about the company than anyone else on Wall Street. Talk to customers, suppliers, competitors, and former employees. Leave no stone unturned."Read Full Analysis →
"Back exceptional management teams. Great managers can turn around mediocre businesses; poor managers can destroy great ones. Management quality is the key variable."Read Full Analysis →
"Combine bottom-up stock picking with top-down macro awareness. Understanding the economic environment helps you position portfolios and avoid sector-wide risks."Read Full Analysis →
"Train and mentor talented young investors. Sharing knowledge elevates the entire industry and creates a legacy. The best investment is in people who will carry on your principles."Read Full Analysis →
"Size positions according to conviction level. Your best ideas deserve the largest allocations. Don't dilute your best ideas with too many positions."Read Full Analysis →
"Short selling requires even more rigor than going long. Shorts can run against you indefinitely. Always have a thesis, a catalyst, and strict risk management."Read Full Analysis →
"Invest in industries where competition is limited and rational. Avoid commoditized businesses with intense price competition. Look for barriers to entry and pricing power."Read Full Analysis →
"Look for opportunities globally, not just in your home market. The best investments may be in emerging markets or overlooked geographies. Stay curious about the world."Read Full Analysis →
"Focus on risk-adjusted returns, not absolute returns. Taking excessive risk for marginally higher returns is not good investing. Protect the downside and the upside will take care of itself."Read Full Analysis →
"Never overpay for a security, no matter how exciting the story. The price you pay determines your return. Discipline in valuation is the foundation of investment success."Read Full Analysis →
"Always estimate the intrinsic value of a business before investing. Compare price to value, not price to past price. The gap between price and value is where profits are made."Read Full Analysis →
"Use conservative assumptions in your valuation. Optimistic projections lead to overpaying. It is better to underestimate value and be pleasantly surprised than to overestimate and be disappointed."Read Full Analysis →
"Invest in businesses with durable competitive advantages, strong cash flows, and management integrity. Quality businesses compound wealth over time and reduce downside risk."Read Full Analysis →
"Before investing, identify the moat — the sustainable competitive advantage that protects the business from competitors. No moat means no long-term edge."Read Full Analysis →
"The most successful investors stay within their circle of competence. Know what you understand well and resist the temptation to venture outside it."Read Full Analysis →
"Surface-level knowledge is dangerous in investing. Develop deep expertise in your areas of focus. True understanding means knowing what could go wrong."Read Full Analysis →
"Expand your circle of competence gradually over time. Each new area of expertise adds potential opportunities, but only if mastered thoroughly."Read Full Analysis →
"Markets are driven by fear and greed. The disciplined investor exploits these emotions rather than being controlled by them. Emotional control is the key competitive advantage."Read Full Analysis →
"Understanding crowd psychology is essential. When everyone agrees, the opportunity has usually passed. The best time to act is when the crowd is most fearful or most confident."Read Full Analysis →
"The best investments often feel uncomfortable because they go against popular opinion. If everyone loves a stock, it's probably overpriced. If everyone hates it, investigate."Read Full Analysis →
"Before considering how much you can make, consider how much you can lose. Risk management is not about avoiding risk entirely, but about understanding and controlling it."Read Full Analysis →
"The size of your position should reflect your conviction and the risk involved. Never bet so large that a single mistake can wipe out your portfolio."Read Full Analysis →
"In a world obsessed with quarterly results, patience is the ultimate competitive advantage. Great investments often take years to play out fully."Read Full Analysis →
"Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. Those who understand it earn it; those who don't, pay it. Time is the most valuable asset in investing."Read Full Analysis →
"Think in decades, not days. The market rewards patient capital and punishes impatience. Most of the gains in investing come from sitting and waiting."Read Full Analysis →
"The cardinal rule of investing: buy only when the price is significantly below your conservative estimate of intrinsic value. This builds in protection against error."Read Full Analysis →
"The stock market is a no-called-strike game. You don't have to swing at every pitch. Wait for the fat pitch — the opportunity that offers exceptional risk-reward."Read Full Analysis →
"Never invest in anything you don't fully understand. Thorough research is the foundation of every sound investment decision."Read Full Analysis →
"Have clear, pre-defined sell criteria. Sell when: your thesis is broken, valuation is fully realized, or a significantly better opportunity appears."Read Full Analysis →
"Regularly review whether your original reasons for owning a stock still hold. If the facts change, change your mind. Holding a broken thesis is the costliest mistake."Read Full Analysis →
"Draw insights from multiple disciplines — psychology, history, mathematics, and science — to build a lattice of mental models for better investment decisions."Read Full Analysis →
"Think in probabilities, not certainties. Every investment has a range of possible outcomes. Weight your decisions by the expected value of each scenario."Read Full Analysis →
"Instead of asking how to succeed, ask how to avoid failure. Inverting problems often reveals insights that forward thinking misses."Read Full Analysis →
"A clear investment philosophy provides an anchor in turbulent times. Know what you believe, why you believe it, and stick to it when tested."Read Full Analysis →
"Focus on process, not outcomes. A good process can produce bad outcomes in the short run, but will generate superior results over time."Read Full Analysis →
"Develop your own investment philosophy through study and experience. Copying others without understanding why leads to confusion when strategies are tested."Read Full Analysis →
"The principles that make you a great investor — patience, discipline, humility, and continuous learning — are the same principles that lead to a great life."Read Full Analysis →
"The best investors never stop learning. Read voraciously, study history, learn from mistakes, and stay curious about the world. Knowledge compounds like interest."Read Full Analysis →
"The ideal investment is a high-quality business purchased at a fair price. Quality compounds wealth; fair prices protect capital."Read Full Analysis →
"The greatest enemy of the investor is himself. Fear, greed, regret, and pride cause more losses than any economic event. Master your emotions to master the market."Read Full Analysis →
"Know the common behavioral biases that trap investors: anchoring, confirmation bias, loss aversion, and herding. Awareness is the first step to prevention."Read Full Analysis →
"Think independently. The crowd is often wrong at extremes, and following popular opinion is a reliable path to mediocre returns. Form your own informed views."Read Full Analysis →
"The market exists to serve you, not to guide you. Use market prices to your advantage — buy when the market offers bargains and sell when it offers premiums."Read Full Analysis →
"Markets move in cycles driven by human emotion. Understanding where you are in the cycle helps you prepare for what comes next and position accordingly."Read Full Analysis →
"In the short run, the market is a voting machine; in the long run, it's a weighing machine. Prices can diverge wildly from value, but eventually converge."Read Full Analysis →
"A systematic approach to investing removes emotion and ensures consistency. Document your process, follow your rules, and review regularly."Read Full Analysis →
"Use an investment checklist to ensure you don't skip critical steps. Aviation-style checklists prevent costly oversights in investment analysis."Read Full Analysis →
"Review every investment decision — wins and losses — to improve your system. The best investors treat investing as a craft that can always be refined."Read Full Analysis →
"Find the 200 best companies in the world and invest in them. Find the 200 worst and go short."
We have curated 49 verified Julian Robertson quotes, each with source attribution and in-depth analysis.
Julian Robertson frequently discusses value investing, risk management, and long-term thinking.