Psychology

Hedge funds give less transparency than almost anything that people invest money in... Since investors have accepted much less transparency and much less attractive terms in liquidity and information rights, they have not been able to pick apart the sources of return.

Small hedge funds do better than big ones... big hedge funds did better when they were small... therefore the industry did better when it was small... That third step in the logic is something that investors don't spend a lot of time thinking about because there's nobody around to point that out to them!

There's a very strong relationship between depravation and drug use in many western cultures. It's not the sole reason- you do get the rich and mega-privileged using drugs… You can't go shouting from the rooftops that it's all about depravation… a lot of it is… but there are other social factors, personal factors, genetic factors and economic factors – all mixed into the pot.

Pioneer of addiction medicine and alcohol dependence research; founded modern addiction psychiatry

You can't get addicted to drugs unless you're exposed to them. You have to be exposed in situation where you can determine the dose. If you take the drug long enough and in a high-enough dose… most drugs which are addictive, will give you withdrawal symptom… making you feel rotten, and giving you another reason to take more.

Pioneer of addiction medicine and alcohol dependence research; founded modern addiction psychiatry

What's special about it as a science subject is that it is so awkward, it doesn't lend itself to easy solutions. It's a multi-factorial problem, very different to- for example- the question of what causes influenza?

Pioneer of addiction medicine and alcohol dependence research; founded modern addiction psychiatry

We make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same…

Author of "The Teachings of Don Juan" & Controversial Anthropologist

The awareness of life as being finite allows them (somewhat counter-intuitively) to live… This doesn't necessarily mean being reckless, but rather that they engage in activities which are positive for their well-being- things like travel, education, spending time with family and friends, and so on.

People underestimate their personal probability of encountering negative …it is not so much that individuals believe that negative events will not happen, but rather that these events are relatively unlikely to happen to them.

Former Premier of New Brunswick & Canadian diplomat and businessman

The point of maximum pessimism is the ultimate time to buy a stock because at this point, all the sellers are gone… and only buyers remain. How do you determine this point? Even Uncle John said it's impossible…. You never know until it has passed!

Value investor and niece of legendary investor John Templeton

The world of business is scared without realising that it, itself, is the cure.

They have maternal instincts and look after each other as we do… it's not an intellectual thing when a mother protects her child; it's an instinctive behaviour. We value all those things in the human being because we are human beings! But that's pretty short sighted and narrow minded.

Founder and President of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)

If you don't spend a lot of money on something and it doesn't work out… is it really a 'failure'? Most entrepreneurs start a lot of different ventures. Some work better than others, but that's totally normal and expected.

Author of "The $100 Startup" and lifestyle design expert

What really is risky?! In many ways I think it's actually much safer to take things into your own hands rather than trusting your destiny to an uncertain jobs market.

Author of "The $100 Startup" and lifestyle design expert

If you asked most people to categorise good trades and bad trades, you would find the answers to be quite simple… If it makes money it's a good trade, and if it loses money, it's a bad trade. That's not true at all…

Author of Market Wizards & Hedge Fund Expert

If you take a trade that follows your process exactly and if that trade loses money, that was not a bad trade. It's only a bad trade if you deviate from your process and lose money. I would go further and say that if you deviate from your process and make money, it's still a bad trade.

Author of Market Wizards & Hedge Fund Expert

The diversity of strategies people use is truly remarkable, I saw people using completely different strategies to the degree that if I had set out to invent 15 different strategies for a fictional work…. I couldn't have made the strategies more different to the ones I saw in real life! This illustrates a point I have made in all my works insofar as there really is no 'holy grail' or single style that is most effective.

Author of Market Wizards & Hedge Fund Expert