“At the beginning of the eighteenth century, fifty years before the time of Quesnay, Bandini of Sienna had shown, both from reason and experience, that there never had been a scarcity of food, except in those countries where the government had itself interfered to supply the people.”

-Jean-Baptiste Say, Treatise on Political Economy

“Was shorting the Argentine peso your favorite trade of all time?”
“No. I don’t have a favorite trade of all time. My favorite trades are when I’m wrong and get out without losing too much money.”

Anonymous, Currency Fund Manager, London

Inside the House of Money: Top Hedge Fund Traders on Profiting in the Global Markets. (Wiley, 2006).

“There is nothing like losing all you have in the world for
teaching you what not to do. And when you know what not to do in
order not to lose money, you begin to learn what to do in order
to win. Did you get that? You begin to learn!”

Jesse Livermore , “Reminiscenes of a Stock Operator”