John Templeton Quotes

195 John Templeton Quotes

1 2 3 4 5



Bull markets are born in pessimism, grow on scepticism, mature on optimism and die on euphoria.
John Templeton

People are always asking me where is the outlook good, but that’s the wrong question, The right question is: Where is the outlook most miserable?
John Templeton

There’s only one reason a share goes to a bargain price: Because other people are selling. There is no other reason. To get a bargain price, you’ve got to look for where the public is most frightened and pessimistic.
John Templeton

If you buy the same securities everyone else is buying, you will have the same results as everyone else.
John Templeton

I am approaching my ninety-fifth birthday and believe that there has never been a better time to be alive. We should be deeply grateful to have been born in this age of unbelievable prosperity.
John Templeton

Buy stocks for less than they are worth and hold them – as long as it takes for the market to appreciate how undervalued they are.
John Templeton

Looking for a good investment is nothing more than looking for a good bargain.
John Templeton

[On investing in Union Carbide during the Bhopal disaster] What sort of liabilities were involved in similar instances in the past? What would the potential liability be for union carbide? (His attitude was: ‘Okay here’s a problem. The stock price is down tremendously, lets just put some numbers around the problem and see what the market discount is.’)
John Templeton

To buy when others are despondently selling and to sell when others are avidly buying requires the greatest of fortitude and pays the greatest ultimate rewards.
John Templeton

I can sum up my message by reminding you of Will Rogers’ famous advice. ‘Don’t gamble,’ he said. ‘Buy some good stock. Hold it till it goes up… and then sell it. If it doesn’t go up, don’t buy it!’
John Templeton



Success in the stock market is based on the principle of buying low and selling high. Granted, one can make money by reversing the order – selling high and then buying low.
John Templeton

There is money to be made in those strange animals, options and futures. But, by and large, these are techniques for traders and speculators, not for investors.
John Templeton

Invest for maximum total REAL return. This means the return on invested dollars after taxes and after inflation. This is the only rational objective for most long-term investors. Any investment strategy that fails to recognize the insidious effect of taxes and inflation fails to recognize the true nature of the investment environment and thus is severely handicapped.
John Templeton

Diversify. In stocks and bonds, as in much else, there is safety in numbers.
John Templeton

It is vital that you protect purchasing power. One of the biggest mistakes people make is putting too much money into fixed-income securities.
John Templeton

Invest – don’t trade or speculate.
John Templeton

The stock market is not a casino, but if you move in and out of stocks every time they move a point or two, or if you continually sell short… or deal only in options…or trade in futures…the market will be your casino. And, like most gamblers, you may lose eventually—or frequently.
John Templeton

Keep in mind the wise words of Lucien Hooper, a Wall Street legend: “What always impresses me,” he wrote, “is how much better the relaxed, long-term owners of stock do with their portfolios than the traders do with their switching of inventory. The relaxed investor is usually better informed and more understanding of essential values; he is more patient and less emotional; he pays smaller capital gains taxes; he does not incur unnecessary brokerage commissions; and he avoids behaving like Cassius by ‘thinking too much.’”
John Templeton

Remain flexible and open-minded about types of investment.
John Templeton

There are times to buy blue chip stocks, cyclical stocks, corporate bonds, U.S. Treasury instruments, and so on. And there are times to sit on cash, because sometimes cash enables you to take advantage of investment opportunities.
John Templeton



The fact is there is no one kind of investment that is always best. If a particular industry or type of security becomes popular with investors, that popularity will always prove temporary and—when lost—may not return for many years.
John Templeton

There is no real safety without preserving purchasing power.
John Templeton

Buy low.
John Templeton

[On buying low] Of course, you say, that’s obvious. Well, it may be, but that isn’t the way the market works. When prices are high, a lot of investors are buying a lot of stocks. Prices are low when demand is low. Investors have pulled back, people are discouraged and pessimistic.
John Templeton

When almost everyone is pessimistic at the same time, the entire market collapses. More often, just stocks in particular fields fall. Industries such as automaking and casualty insurance go through regular cycles. Sometimes stocks of companies like the thrift institutions or money-center banks fall out of favor all at once. Whatever the reason, investors are on the sidelines, sitting on their wallets. Yes, they tell you: “Buy low, sell high.” But all too many of them bought high and sold low. Then you ask: “When will you buy the stock?” The usual answer: “Why, after analysts agree on a favorable outlook.” This is foolish, but it is human nature. It is extremely difficult to go against the crowd—to buy when everyone else is selling or has sold, to buy when things look darkest, to buy when so many experts are telling you that stocks in general, or in this particular industry, or even in this particular company, are risky right now.
John Templeton

You can’t outperform the market if you buy the market
John Templeton

Chances are if you buy what everyone is buying you will do so only after it is already overpriced.
John Templeton

Heed the words of the great pioneer of stock analysis Benjamin Graham: “Buy when most people…including experts…are pessimistic, and sell when they are actively optimistic.”
John Templeton

Bernard Baruch, advisor to presidents, was even more succinct: “Never follow the crowd.”
John Templeton

So simple in concept. So difficult in execution.
John Templeton



When buying stocks, search for bargains among quality stocks. Quality is a company strongly entrenched as the sales leader in a growing market. Quality is a company that’s the technological leader in a field that depends on technical innovation. Quality is a strong management team with a proven track record. Quality is a well-capitalized company that is among the first into a new market. Quality is a well known trusted brand for a high-profit-margin consumer product.
John Templeton

Determining quality in a stock is like reviewing a restaurant. You don’t expect it to be 100% perfect, but before it gets three or four stars you want it to be superior.
John Templeton

Buy value, not market trends or the economic outlook.
John Templeton

A wise investor knows that the stock market is really a market of stocks.
John Templeton

Ultimately it is the individual stocks that determine the market
John Templeton

All too many investors focus on the market trend or economic outlook.
John Templeton

Individual stocks can rise in a bear market and fall in a bull market
John Templeton

The stock market and the economy do not always march in lock step. Bear markets do not always coincide with recessions, and an overall decline in corporate earnings does not always cause a simultaneous decline in stock prices.
John Templeton

Buy individual stocks, not the market trend or economic outlook.
John Templeton

No matter how careful you are, you can neither predict nor control the future. A hurricane or earthquake, a strike at a supplier, an unexpected technological advance by a competitor, or a government-ordered product recall—any one of these can cost a company millions of dollars. Then, too, what looked like such a well-managed company may turn out to have serious internal problems that weren’t apparent when you bought the stock.
John Templeton



1 2 3 4 5


Return from John Templeton Quotes to Quoteswise.com