When there are multiple solutions to a problem, choose the simplest one.
—John C. Bogle
So please don’t forget that considering the probabilities of future returns only begins the decision-making process. Decisions have consequences. If the consequences of being badly wrong about future returns would imperil your financial future, be conservative.
—John C. Bogle
At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island, Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, Joseph Heller, that their host, a hedge fund manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his wildly popular novel Catch-22 over its whole history. Heller responds,”Yes, but I have something he will never have … enough.”
—John C. Bogle
The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan. Stick to the good plan.
—John C. Bogle
Rely on the ordinary virtues that intelligent, balanced human beings have relied on for centuries: common sense, thrift, realistic expectations, patience, and perseverance.
—John C. Bogle
The first step is to measure what can be easily measured. This is okay as far as it goes. The second step is to disregard that which cannot be measured, or give it an arbitrary quantitative value. This is artificial and misleading. The third step is to presume that what cannot be measured really is not very important. This is blindness. The fourth step is to say that what cannot be measured does not really exist. This is suicide.
—John C. Bogle
Gunning for average is your best shot at finishing above average.
—John C. Bogle
An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest. Learning is to the Studious, and Riches to the Careful. If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him.
—John C. Bogle
Wondering Whom to Read Next?
Warren Buffett American Investor
Charlie Munger American Investor, Philanthropist
Mohnish Pabrai Indian-American Investor, Philanthropist
T. Boone Pickens American Businessman, Financier
Jeff Bezos American Businessman
Benjamin Graham American Investor
Richard Rainwater American Investor
Jesse Lauriston Livermore American Investor
Ray Dalio American Investor
Peter Thiel American Entrepreneur