John C. Bogle

"Caution: While investing in particular market sectors is done most efficiently through index funds, betting on one winning sector and then another is exactly that: betting. But betting is a loser’s game."

"But let me be clear. There is nothing wrong with investing in those indexed ETFs that track the broad stock market, just so long as you don’t trade them."

“The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan. Stick to the good plan."

"Graham cautioned investors not to expect too much from stock-exchange houses, arguing that “the Wall Street business fraternity is still feeling its way toward the high standards and standing of a profession.” (A half-century later, the quest remains far from complete.)"

“Can the average manager obtain better results than the Standard & Poor’s Index over the years?” Graham’s blunt response: “No.” Then he explained: “In effect that would mean that the stock market experts as a whole could beat themselves—a logical contradiction."

"All investors want good results from their investments, and are entitled to them to the extent that they are actually obtainable. I see no reason why they should be content with results inferior to those of an indexed fund or pay standard fees for such inferior results.”

"We know that neither beating the market nor successfully timing the market can be generalized without self-contradiction. What may work for the few cannot work for the many."

"We know that the risk of selecting individual securities, as well as the risk of selecting both fund managers and investment styles, can be eliminated by the total diversification offered by the traditional index fund. Only market risk remains."

"No matter what happens, stick to your program. Think long term. Patience and consistency are the most valuable assets for the intelligent investor. Stay the course.”

"Please remember that the stars produced in the mutual fund field are rarely stars; all too often they are meteors, lighting up the firmament for a brief moment in time and then flaming out, their ashes floating gently to earth."

"The simple fact is that trying to select a mutual fund that will outpace the stock market over the long term is, using Cervantes’s formulation, like “looking for a needle in the haystack.”

"Selecting Long-Term Winners: Don’t Look for the Needle—Buy the Haystack."

"With intelligent asset allocation and sensible investment choices, we can be prepared for the inevitable bumps along the road, and should glide right through them."

"When it’s so easy—in fact unbelievably simple—to capture the stock market’s returns through an index fund, you don’t need to assume extra risks—nor the burden of excessive costs—to earn superior results."

"The real money in investment will have to be made—as most of it has been made in the past—not out of buying and selling but of owning and holding securities, receiving interest and dividends and benefitting from their long-term increase in value."

"Successful short-term marketing strategies are rarely—if ever—optimal long-term investment strategies."

The quintessential aspect of the original paradigm of the traditional index fund is to assure, indeed virtually guarantee, that investors will earn their fair share of the stock market’s return."

"While short-term speculation is a loser’s game, long-term investment is a proven strategy, one that broad market index funds are well positioned to implement."

"The value of bond index funds is derived from the same forces that create value in stock index funds: broad diversification, rock-bottom costs, disciplined portfolio activity, tax efficiency, and focus on shareholders who place their trust in long-term strategies."

"The number of managers with great track records in a given market depends far more on the number of people who started in the investment business, rather than on their ability to produce profits.”