Ray Dalio Quotes & Sayings

The world is still in deleveraging. — Ray Dalio

I believe there are an infinite number of laws of the universe and that all progress or dreams achieved come from operating in a way that's consistent with them. These laws and the principles of how to operate in harmony with them have always existed. We were given these laws by nature. Man didn't and can't make them up. He can only hope to understand them and use them to get what he wants. — Ray Dalio

People who acquire things beyond their usefulness not only will derive little or no marginal gains from these acquisitions, but they also will experience negative consequences, as with any form of gluttony. — Ray Dalio

Remember that experience creates internalization. Doing things repeatedly leads to internalization, which produces a quality of understanding that is generally vastly superior to intellectualized learning. — Ray Dalio

There is nothing to fear from truth ... Being truthful is essential to being an independent thinker and obtaining greater understanding of what is right. — Ray Dalio

By and large, life will give you what you deserve and it doesn't give a damn what you like. So it is up to you to take full responsibility to connect what you want with what you need to do to get it, and then to do those things. — Ray Dalio

Meditation, more than any other factor, has been the reason for what success I've had. — Ray Dalio

Look at what caused people to make a lot of money and you will see that usually it is in proportion to their production of what the society wanted. — Ray Dalio

Demand is best measured in terms of spending. You know, I think in traditional economics, it's a mistake to measure it in terms of the quantity of goods. — Ray Dalio

People who worry about looking good typically hide what they don't know and hide their weaknesses, so they never learn how to properly deal with them and these weaknesses remain impediments in the future. — Ray Dalio

A beautiful deleveraging balances the three options. In other words, there is a certain amount of austerity, there is a certain amount of debt restructuring, and there is a certain amount of printing of money. When done in the right mix, it isn't dramatic. — Ray Dalio

People who confuse what they wish were true with what is really true create distorted pictures of reality that make it impossible for them to make the best choices. — Ray Dalio

I pay about a third in taxes, I give away about a third, and I follow the law. — Ray Dalio

For me, the best things in life - meaningful work, meaningful relationships, interesting experiences, good food, sleep, music, ideas, sex, and other basic needs and pleasures - are not, past a certain point, materially improved upon by having a lot of money. — Ray Dalio

Since the only way you are going to find solutions to painful problems is by thinking deeply about them - i.e., reflecting - if you can develop a knee-jerk reaction to pain that is to reflect rather than to fight or flee, it will lead to your rapid learning/evolving. — Ray Dalio

There is giant untapped potential in disagreement, especially if the disagreement is between two or more thoughtful people — Ray Dalio

Watch out for people who think it's embarrassing not to know. — Ray Dalio

I learned that everyone makes mistakes and has weaknesses and that one of the most important things that differentiates people is their approach to handling them. I learned that there is an incredible beauty to mistakes, because embedded in each mistake is a puzzle, and a gem that I could get if I solved it, i.e. a principle that I could use to reduce my mistakes in the future. — Ray Dalio

Radical transparency is critical to having an idea meritocracy because it shows what's actually happening without spin and prevents people from maneuvering politically behind each others' backs. It brings problems and weaknesses to the surface and allows people to see how they are dealt with, so it's great for training people on how to deal with real problems. — Ray Dalio

Don't be a perfectionist, because perfectionists often spend too much time on little differences at the margins at the expense of other big, important things. Be an effective imperfectionist. Solutions that broadly work well (e.g., how people should contact each other in the event of crises) are generally better than highly specialized solutions (e.g., how each person should contact each other in the event of every conceivable crisis). — Ray Dalio

There is slow growth, but it is positive slow growth. At the same time, ratios of debt-to-incomes go down. That's a beautiful deleveraging. — Ray Dalio

Ask yourself whether you have earned the right to have an opinion. Opinions are easy to produce, so bad ones abound. Knowing that you don't know something is nearly as valuable as knowing it. The worst situation is thinking you know something when you don't. — Ray Dalio

I'm going to give away a lot more than half my money. I'd be happy to give that to the government if the government put together programs that were like I'm giving away to charity, in which I believe the money is effectively used to help people. — Ray Dalio

In China anything less than 6% growth is a recession meaning that it also causes financial problems and it's disruptive and it's a problem. — Ray Dalio

When you're centered, your emotions are not hijacking you. — Ray Dalio

More than anything else, what differentiates people who live up to their potential from those who don't is a willingness to look at themselves and others objectively — Ray Dalio

I think so many people are reactive ... they see things in a short term way they're right up against it. — Ray Dalio

When people get at each other's throat, the rich and the poor and the Left and the Right and so on, and you have a basic breakdown, that becomes very threatening. — Ray Dalio

I also believe that everyone needs to think independently and make their own decisions on what makes the most sense. — Ray Dalio

Successful people ask for the criticism of others and consider its merit. — Ray Dalio

There are far more good answers "out there" than there are in you. — Ray Dalio

The main reason I write the daily observations is because I want to know where I'm wrong. So lots of times if somebody points something out it helps me, and I want to have a diversified bet of uncorrelated bets. — Ray Dalio

If it didn't happen in your life before, then you're not paying attention you don't think it's possible. But almost all important events never happen in your life before. — Ray Dalio

Be wary of the arrogant intellectual who comments from the stands without having played on the field. — Ray Dalio

People with good work habits have to-do lists that are reasonably prioritized, and they make themselves do what needs to be done. By contrast, people with poor work habits almost randomly react to the stuff that comes at them, or they can't bring themselves to do the things they need to do but don't like to do (or are unable to do). — Ray Dalio

Life is like a giant smorgasbord of more delicious alternatives than you can ever hope to taste. So you have to reject having some things you want in order to get other things you want more. — Ray Dalio

Don't worry about looking good - worry about achieving your goals. — Ray Dalio

In the end, what matters most is that the people you work with share your values, so I've wanted people who value the meaningful work and meaningful relationships that always motivated me in building Bridgewater. — Ray Dalio

I worry about another leg down in the economies causing social disruption because deleveragings can be very painful - it depends on how they're managed. — Ray Dalio

The pain of problems is a call to find solutions rather than a reason for unhappiness and inaction, so it's silly, pointless, and harmful to be upset at the problems and choices that come at you (though it's understandable). — Ray Dalio

Once you accept that playing the game will be uncomfortable, and you do it for a while, it will become much easier (like it does when getting fit). When you excel at it, you will find your ability to get what you want thrilling. — Ray Dalio

Distinguish open-minded people from closed-minded people. Open-minded people seek to learn by asking questions; they realize that what they know is little in relation to what there is to know and recognize that they might be wrong. Closed-minded people always tell you what they know, even if they know hardly anything about the subject being discussed. They are typically made uncomfortable by being around those who know a lot more about a subject, unlike open-minded people who are thrilled by such company. — Ray Dalio

The biggest mistake investors make is to believe that what happened in the recent past is likely to persist. They assume that something that was a good investment in the recent past is still a good investment. Typically, high past returns simply imply that an asset has become more expensive and is a poorer, not better, investment. — Ray Dalio

In return, society rewards those who give it what it wants. That is why how much money people have earned is a rough measure of how much they gave society what it wanted. — Ray Dalio

Almost everything is like a machine. — Ray Dalio

I think that the first thing is you should have a strategic asset allocation mix that assumes that you don't know what the future is going to hold. — Ray Dalio

Credit is a promise to deliver money. It will produce GDP but you'll create credit ... So you reach a certain point that that you can't do that anymore ... There are choices. And how do we best support, apportion the money? How much is going to be transferred? — Ray Dalio

He who lives by the crystal ball will eat shattered glass. — Ray Dalio

Principles are concepts that can be applied over and over again in similar circumstances as distinct from narrow answers to specific questions. Every game has principles that successful players master to achieve winning results. So does life. Principles are ways of successfully dealing with the laws of nature or the laws of life. Those who understand more of them and understand them well know how to interact with the world more effectively than those who know fewer of them or know them less well. — Ray Dalio

Pull in your belt, spend less, and reduce debt. — Ray Dalio

Meditation more than anything in my life was the biggest ingredient of whatever success I've had. — Ray Dalio

There are two main drivers of asset class returns - inflation and growth. — Ray Dalio

Competitiveness is really what it costs you per man-hour to get you what you want. In other words, there's an education level that plays into the mix and so if it's inexpensive to buy an hour of real good education in places like China versus the U.S., that factors in. — Ray Dalio

Constantly probe the people who report to you, and encourage them to probe you. — Ray Dalio

Never say anything about a person you wouldn't say to them directly, and don't try people without accusing them to their face. Badmouthing people behind their backs shows a serious lack of integrity and is counterproductive. It doesn't yield any beneficial change, and it subverts both the people you are badmouthing and the environment as a whole. — Ray Dalio

When you think that it's too hard, remember that in the long run, doing the things that will make you successful is a lot easier than being unsuccessful — Ray Dalio

People who excel at book learning tend to call up from memory what they have learned in order to follow stored instructions. Others who are better at internalized learning use the thoughts that flow from their subconscious. The experienced skier doesn't recite instructions on how to ski and then execute them; rather, he does it well "without thinking," in the same way he breathes without thinking. Understanding these differences is essential. — Ray Dalio

I believe that for the most part, achieving success - whatever that is for you - is mostly a matter of personal choice and that, initially, making the right choices can be difficult. — Ray Dalio

I believe that the biggest problem that humanity faces is an ego sensitivity to finding out whether one is right or wrong and identifying what one's strengths and weaknesses are. — Ray Dalio

Success is achieved by people who deeply understand reality and know how to use it to get what they want. The converse is also true: idealists who are not well-grounded in reality create problems, not progress. — Ray Dalio

Know what your people are like, and make sure they do their jobs excellently. — Ray Dalio

Radical transparency fosters goodness in so many ways for the same reasons that bad things are more likely to take place behind closed doors. — Ray Dalio

It all comes down to interest rates. As an investor, all you're doing is putting up a lump-sump payment for a future cash flow. — Ray Dalio

The economy is like a machine. — Ray Dalio

The big question is: When will the term structure of interest rates change? That's the question to be worried about. — Ray Dalio

I believe that we all get rewarded and punished according to whether we operate in harmony or in conflict with nature's laws, and that all societies will succeed or fail in the degrees that they operate consistently with these laws. — Ray Dalio

If inflation-adjusted interest rates decline in a given country, its currency is likely to decline. — Ray Dalio

I notice a difference from the moment I meditate. — Ray Dalio

Most people have a hard time confronting their weaknesses in a really straightforward, evidence-based way. They also have problems speaking frankly to others. Some people love knowing about their weaknesses and mistakes and those of others because it helps them be so much better, while others can't stand it. — Ray Dalio

I have been very lucky because I have had the opportunity to see what it's like to have little or no money and what it's like to have a lot of it. I'm lucky because people make such a big deal of it and, if I didn't experience both, I wouldn't be able to know how important it really is for me. I can't comment on what having a lot of money means to others, but I do know that for me, having a lot more money isn't a lot better than having enough to cover the basics. — Ray Dalio

Sometimes we forge our own principles and sometimes we accept others' principles, or holistic packages of principles, such as religion and legal systems. While it isn't necessarily a bad thing to use others' principles - it's difficult to come up with your own, and often much wisdom has gone into those already created - adopting pre-packaged principles without much thought exposes you to the risk of inconsistency with your true values. — Ray Dalio

For every mistake that you learn from you will save thousands of similar mistakes in the future, so if you treat mistakes as learning opportunities that yield rapid improvements you should be excited by them. But if you treat them as bad things, you will make yourself and others miserable, and you won't grow. — Ray Dalio

School typically doesn't prepare young people for real life - unless their lives are spent following instructions and pleasing others. In my opinion, that's why so many students who succeed in school fail in life. — Ray Dalio

So I learned that the people who make the most of the process of encountering reality, especially the painful obstacles, learn the most and get what they want faster than people who do not ... In short, I learned that being totally truthful, especially about mistakes and weaknesses, led to a rapid rate of improvement and movement toward what I wanted. — Ray Dalio

I believe that dreamers who simply imagine things that would be nice but are not possible don't sufficiently appreciate the laws of the universe to understand the true implications of their desires, much less how to achieve them. — Ray Dalio

Over time, it also became important for me to share my management principles with the people I worked with because we had to agree on how we should be with each other - and that way is unique. Because the logic behind being radically honest and radically transparent with each other wasn't clear, it had to be spelled out in these principles. — Ray Dalio

Ironically, people who suppress the mini-confrontations for fear of conflict tend to have huge conflicts later, which can lead to separation, precisely because they let minor problems fester. On the other hand, people who address the mini-conflicts head-on in order to straighten things out tend to have the great, long-lasting relationships. — Ray Dalio

When growth is slower-than-expected, stocks go down. When inflation is higher-than-expected, bonds go down. When inflation is lower-than-expected, bonds go up. — Ray Dalio

Though how nature works is way beyond man's ability to comprehend, I have found that observing how nature works offers innumerable lessons that can help us understand the realities that affect us. — Ray Dalio

One of the greatest sources of problems in our society arises from people having loads of wrong theories in their heads - often theories that are critical of others - that they won't test by speaking to the relevant people about them. Instead, they talk behind people's backs, which leads to pervasive misinformation. — Ray Dalio

Some people who are creative are not reliable and vice versa; some see big pictures while others see details, etc. All of them are important to have on well-orchestrated teams. — Ray Dalio

To test if you are worrying too much about looking good, observe how you feel when you find out you've made a mistake or don't know something. — Ray Dalio

There is an excellent correlation between giving society what it wants and making money, and almost no correlation between the desire to make money and how much money one makes. — Ray Dalio

Nature gave us pain as a messaging device to tell us that we are approaching, or that we have exceeded, our limits in some way. — Ray Dalio

Imagine if you had baseball cards that showed all the performance stats for your people: batting averages, home runs, errors, ERAs, win/loss records. You could see what they did well and poorly and call on the right people to play the right positions in a very transparent way. — Ray Dalio

I can be stressed, or tired, and I can go into a meditation and it all just flows off of me. I'll come out of it refreshed and centered and that's how I'll feel and it'll carry through the day. — Ray Dalio

Principles are what allow you to live a life consistent with those values. Principles connect your values to your actions. — Ray Dalio

Over the long run, the price of gold approximates the total amount of money in circulation divided by the size of the gold stock. If the market price of gold moves a long way from this level, it may indicate a buying or selling opportunity. — Ray Dalio

When two intelligent parties disagree, that's when the potential for learning and moving ahead begins. — Ray Dalio

I believe that understanding what is good is obtained by looking at the way the world works and figuring out how to operate in harmony with it to help it evolve. — Ray Dalio

When there is pain, the animal instinct is 'fight or flight' (i.e., to either strike back or run away) - reflect instead. When you can calm yourself down, thinking about the dilemma that is causing you pain will bring you to a higher level and enlighten you, leading to progress. — Ray Dalio

I'm just saying that if you understand how the economic machine works, it just works like a machine. There are cause-effect relationships. — Ray Dalio

Nature is a machine. The family is a machine. The life cycle is like a machine. — Ray Dalio

Treat your life like a game. — Ray Dalio

There is a strong tendency to get used to and accept very bad things that would be shocking if seen with fresh eyes. — Ray Dalio

Everyone has to decide for themselves what works for them and their organization. — Ray Dalio

I have found that by looking at what is rewarded and punished, and why, universally - i.e., in nature as well as in humanity - I have been able to learn more about what is "good" and "bad" than by listening to most people's views about good and bad. — Ray Dalio

You'll see that excuses like "That's not easy" are of no value and that it pays to "push through it" at a pace you can handle. Like getting physically fit, the most important thing is that you keep moving forward at whatever pace you choose, recognizing the consequences of your actions. — Ray Dalio

I think meditation has been the single biggest reason for whatever success Ive had — Ray Dalio

It is a law of nature that you must do difficult things to gain strength and power. As with working out, after a while you make the connection between doing difficult things and the benefits you get from doing them, and you come to look forward to doing these difficult things. — Ray Dalio