Seth Klarman Quotes

One must understand the importance of an endless drive to get information and seek value.

My experience is that short sellers do far better analysis than long buyers because they have to. The market is biased upward over time-as the saying goes, stocks are for the long run.

Most investors are primarily oriented toward return, how much they can make and pay little attention to risk, how much they can lose.

Analysts recommendations may not produce good results. In part this is due to the pressure placed on these analysts to recommend frequently rather than wisely.

People should be highly sceptical of anyone's including their own, ability to predict the future, and instead pursue strategies that can survive whatever may occur.

A value strategy is of little use to the impatient investor since it usually takes time to pay off.

We don't deal in absolutes. We deal in probabilities.

Investing is the intersection of economics and psychology.

If only one word is to be used to describe what Baupost does, that word should be: 'Mispricing'. We look for mispricing due to over-reaction.

When a Wall Street analyst or broker expresses optimism, investors must take it with a grain of salt.

Flexible approach - will look at ALL asset classes.

Limit risk with: Deep analysis Bargain purchase Sensitivity analysis.

All investors must come to terms with the relentless continuity of the investment process.

Benjamin Graham wrote, "Those with enterprise haven't the money, and those with money haven't the enterprise, to buy stocks when they are cheap."

Be indifferent if you lose your short term clients, remember they are your own worst enemy

Like to have a catalyst - reduces dependence on the market: Distressed debt inherently has a catalyst - maturity.

By investing at a discount, Benjamin Graham knew that he was unlikely to experience losses.

The real secret to investing is that there is no secret to investing.

Bad things happen, but really bad things do not. Do buy the dips, especially the lowest quality securities when they come under pressure, because declines will quickly be reversed.

Generally, the greater the stigma or revulsion, the better the bargain.

Never stop reading. History doesn't repeat, but it does rhyme.

The way to maximize outcome is to focus on the process.

Do not suffer interim losses, relish and appreciate them

Why should the immediate opportunity set be the only one considered, when tomorrow's may well be considerably more fertile than today's?

Hold cash when opportunities are not presenting themselves.

Depressions aren't good but the depression mentality is good.

Costs and liabilities are rarely overstated.

Be focused on process and not outcome

Once you adopt a value-investment strategy, any other investment behavior starts to seem like gambling.

It is crucial in a sound investment process to search a mile wide than a mile deep with they find something - also.. never stop digging for information.

The government can reasonably rely on debt ratings when it forms programs to lend money to buyers of otherwise unattractive debt instruments.

Always look for forced urgent selling.

There are no long-term lessons - ever.

I don't have a Bloomberg on my desk. I don't care.

It's incredibly important to note that when you don't allow failure, you get more failure.

There is an old saying, "How did you go bankrupt?" And the answer is, "Gradually, and then suddenly." The impending fiscal crisis in the United States will make its appearance in the same way.

You probably would not choose to dine at a restaurant whose chef always ate elsewhere. I do eat my own cooking, and I don't "dine out" when it comes to investing.

Having clients with a long-term orientation is crucial. Nothing else is as important to the success of an investment firm.

Buying's easier, selling's hard - [it's] hard to know when to get out.

I find value investing to be a stimulating, intellectually challenging, ever changing, and financially rewarding discipline

Value investing by its very nature is contrarian.

Courage is a function of process.

Great investments don't just knock on the door and say "buy me".

Most institutional investors feel compelled to swing at almost every pitch and forgo batting selectivity for frequency.

Short sellers age in dog years.

If you've just stared into the abyss, quickly forget it: the lessons of history can only hold you back.

You need humility to say 'I might be wrong.'

If another person were to enter the building, it would once again be empty.

Don't short many stocks. Instead they hedge for tail risk with CDS and options. They are happy to incur illiquidity

There is no amount of bad news that the markets cannot see past.