“The rules for calculating earnings are nearly incomprehensible. But that’s not what’s really scary. What’s really scary is that they are inconsistently applied, from company to company and from year to year at the same company.” – Joel Litman

“CFOs would like standard setters to issue fewer rules, and to converge U.S. GAAP with IFRS to improve earnings quality.” – “Earnings Quality: Evidence from the Field Ilia Dichev, John Graham, Campbell R. Harvey, Shiva Rajgopal September 9, 2012”

“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.” – Peter Drucker

“Good advertising does not just circulate information. It penetrates the public mind with desires and belief.” – Leo Burnett

“While formulas such as the classic ‘net working capital’ test are necessary to support an investment analysis, value investing is not a paint-by-numbers exercise. Skepticism and judgment are always required.” – Seth Klarman (The Baupost Group)

“There are no such things as limits to growth, because there are no limits to the human capacity for intelligence, imagination, and wonder” – Ronald Reagan

“The investor of today does not profit from yesterday’s growth.” – Warren Buffett

“A business absolutely devoted to service will have only one worry about profits. They will be embarrassingly large.” – Henry Ford

“Research shows there are at least 100 adjustments needed to make earnings and the balance sheet consistently calculated from firm to firm. And people think EBITDA is going to fix that? Those four (ITDA) aren’t even right.” – Joel Litman

“The Interpretation of Financial Statements was first published in 1937, shortly after the Ben Graham bible, Security Analysis, and during an era when investors left the stock market in droves. Today, when the contrary is the case, investors should confirm their understanding of the financial statements of the companies whose stock they own” – Michael Price, in the forward to Ben Graham’s “The interpretation of Financial Statements”

“To improve judgment, suspend judgment.” – Joel Litman

“To clear the mind, merely note that nothing at all is of special or unique ‘value’ or ‘worth’ except by invested, superimposed, and projected belief. Therefore, withdraw value, worth, importance, and interest.” – David R. Hawkins

“I know of no long-time practitioner who regrets adhering to a value philosophy; few investors who embrace the fundamental principles ever abandon this investment approach for another” – Seth Klarman

“The most important quality for an investor is temperament, not intellect. You need a temperament that neither derives great pleasure from being with the crowd or against the crowd.” – Warren Buffett

“It is not enough to have a good mind. The main thing is to use it well.” – Rene Descartes

“Would you rather share your opinion and sound smart, or ask a question and become smarter?” – Joel Litman

“There exist limitless opportunities in every industry. Where there is an open mind, there will always be a frontier.” – Charles F. Kettering

“Every businessman and investor is expected to be able to understand these corporation statements. For security salesmen and for customers’ men in particular, the ability to analyze statement is essential. When you know what the figures mean, you have a sound basis for good business judgment.” – Ben Graham, The Interpretation of Financial Statements, 1937

“To win in life means to give up the obsession of ‘who’s at fault.’ Graciousness is far more powerful than belligerence. It is better to succeed than to win.” – David R. Hawkins

“Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.” – Henry Ford