Ed Thorp Quotes

“One of my great pleasures from the study of investing, finance, and economics is the discovery of insights about people and society.”

“Do not assume that what investors call momentum, a long streak of either rising or falling prices, will continue unless you can make a sound case that it will.”

“Understanding and dealing correctly with the trade-off between risk and return is a fundamental, but poorly understood, challenge faced by all gamblers and investors.”

“To beat the market, focus on investments well within your knowledge and ability to evaluate, your 'circle of competence'.”

“Casino gambling with a system where you have the edge is a wonderful teacher for elementary money management.”

“In the abstract, life is a mixture of chance and choice. Chance can be thought of as the cards you are dealt in life. Choice is how you play them.”

“A small extra gain is generally not worth the substantial risk the deal will break up.”

“I find that retirement savings is individual specific. There's not one cookie-cutter answer for everybody.”

“There are inefficiencies in the market, but they're not easy to demonstrate, and I think that needs to be done before one shifts money in that direction.”

“Education builds software for your brain.”

“Check the evidence. Check the basis of conventional beliefs.”

“With time, lucky managers tend to fade.”

“Write down everything you spend. The waste in your daily spending should soon become apparent.”

“It doesn't pay to push the other party to their absolute limit. A small extra gain is generally not worth the substantial risk the deal will break up.”

“Be aware that information flows down a 'food chain', with those who get it first 'eating' and those who get it late being eaten.”

“True success is exiting some rat race to modulate one's activities for peace of mind.”

“Just because a lot of people say something is true, that doesn't carry any particular weight with me. You need to do some independent thinking, especially about the important things, and try to work them out for yourself. Check the evidence. Check the basis of conventional beliefs.”

“Gambling is a tax on ignorance. People often gamble because they think they can win, they're lucky, they have hunches, that sort of thing, whereas in fact, they're going to be remorselessly ground down over time.”

“Ed's genius is demonstrated in the way he came up with very simple rules in blackjack. Instead of engaging in memory-challenging card counting, something that requires one to be a savant, he crystallizes all of the sophisticated research into simple rules.”

“The surest way to get rich is to play only those gambling games or make those investments where I have an edge.”

“If you aren't going to be a professional investor, just index.”

“Though we didn't have helpful connections and I went to public schools, I found a resource that made all the difference: I learned how to think.”

“Chance can be thought of as the cards you are dealt in life. Choice is how you play them.”

“If you bet too much, you'll almost certainly be ruined.”

“Success on Wall Street was getting the most money. Success for us was having the best life.”

“The answer is really easy for almost everybody. But you're not going to believe me until you work through it yourself and understand it. If you're a long-term investor, you should just buy and hold equities.”