My 20 Favorite Peter Lynch Quotes
Are you ready for the timeless wisdom of one of the greatest investors of all time? Do you have the stomach for the world of investing?
It’s noteworthy that one of the most important investing-related YouTube videos called “Peter Lynch Lecture on the Stock Market” from 1997 only has 163K views.
Within this video lies the quote below that is in my hall of fame of investing wisdom:
“In 96 years, the market has fallen 53 times. There have been 53 declines of 10% or more. Once every 2 years, we have a 10% decline. Of the 53 declines, 15 have been 25%. Once every 6 years, the market falls 20%. That’s a bear market. It’s going to happen. I don’t care.”
Why is it that people would rather watch trivial content instead over immensely valuable insights?
Peter Lynch, the legendary investor of the Magellan Fund at Fidelity Investments, is known for his straightforward approach to investing.
During his tenure as the manager of the Magellan Fund from 1977 to 1990, Lynch achieved an average annual return of around 29%. This remarkable performance significantly outpaced the broader market indices such as the S&P 500.
Over the years, Lynch has shared countless pearls of wisdom that continue to inspire and guide investors around the world.
Here are my 20 favorite Peter Lynch quotes:
- “Invest in what you know.”
- “Know what you own and know why you own it.”
- “The person that turns over the most rocks wins the game.”
- “In the long run, it’s not just how much money you make that will determine your future prosperity. It’s how much of that money you put to work by saving it and investing it.”
- “Go for a business that any idiot can run — because sooner or later, any idiot probably is going to run it.”
- “The best stock to buy may be the one you already own.”
- “The stock market is filled with individuals who know the price of everything, but the value of nothing.”
- “Bargains are the holy grail of the true investor.”
- “You get recessions, you have stock market declines. If you don’t understand that’s going to happen, then you’re not ready, you won’t do well in the markets.”
- “You can’t predict the market.”
- “There’s no shame in losing money on a stock. Everybody does it. What is shameful is to hold on to a stock, or worse, to buy more of it when the fundamentals are deteriorating.”
- “Absent a lot of surprises, stocks are relatively predictable over twenty years. As to whether they’re going to be higher or lower in two to three years, you might as well flip a coin to decide.”
- “It’s human nature to keep doing something as long as it’s pleasurable and you can succeed at it — which is why a lot of people keep gambling.”
- “I think you have to learn that there’s a company behind every stock, and that there’s only one real reason why stocks go up. Companies go from doing poorly to doing well or small companies grow to large companies.”
- “Just because you buy a stock and it goes up does not mean you are right. Just because you buy a stock and it goes down does not mean you are wrong.”
- “Everyone has the brainpower to follow the stock market. If you made it through fifth-grade math, you can do it.”
- “Time is on your side when you own shares of superior companies.”
- “You have to have the stomach for these kinds of market downturns.”
- “The key to making money in stocks is not to get scared out of them.”
- “If you’re prepared to invest in a company, then you ought to be able to explain why in simple language that a fifth grader could understand, and quickly enough so the fifth grader won’t get bored.”
These quotes highlight Lynch’s valuable insights for investors of all levels. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just starting out, Peter Lynch’s principles can help you understand the stock market and build a successful investment portfolio.
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