Livermore Quotes & Sayings

The only thing to do when a man is wrong is to be right by ceasing to be wrong. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

For humanity has moved forward to an era when wrong and slavery are being displaced, and reason and justice are being recognized as the rule of life. — Mary Livermore

There was a project at Lawrence Livermore National Labs where many years ago they went down this path for scripting and controlling very large numerical calculations. — Guido Van Rossum

If you can't sleep at night because of your stock market position, then you have gone too far. If this is the case, then sell your position down to the sleeping level. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

The two most important forms of diversity when it comes to innovation are visible diversity (typically skin color, age, gender, etc.) and underrepresentation (anytime someone is less than 15% of the majority group). Other forms of diversity are also relevant but these are the ones that psychologically play the most role in how someone engages with the innovative process. — David Livermore

It took me five years to learn to play the game intelligently enough to make big money when I was right. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

The market does not beat them. They beat themselves, because though they have brains they cannot sit tight. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

There is time to go long, time to go short and time to go fishing. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

There are highly innovative companies in the U.S., Germany, and India. And there are many stories of companies that failed to innovate in all those countries. This is good news because it means, regardless of your cultural background or where your company is based, it can become innovative. — David Livermore

The distraction, particularly of technology, impedes the innovative process. And when you add to that the distraction of working with colleagues who are in different time zones and/or who have a different approach to urgency and distraction, the potential for losing focus is abundant. — David Livermore

The market always does what it should do, but not always when — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

I have always played a lone hand. It is the way my mind works. I have to do my own seeing and my own thinking. But I can tell you that after the market began to go my way I felt for the first time in my life that I had allies - the strongest and truest in the world: underlying conditions. They were helping me with all their might. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

Perspective taking is taking on the perspective of others. It's what we do anytime we buy a gift for someone else ("What would they like?"). So it means breaking the golden rule ("Treat others the way you want to be treated") and instead, acknowledges that others may not want what you want. — David Livermore

My main life lesson from investing: self-interest is the most powerful force on earth, and can get people to embrace and defend almost anything. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

It is what people actually did in the stock market that counted - not what they said they were going to do. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

Developing an explicit decision-making process upfront for how you will make that decision will help alleviate conflict and gridlock when you actually need to decide. — David Livermore

They say you never grow poor taking profits. No, you don't. But neither do you grow rich taking a four-point profit in a bull market. Where I should have made twenty thousand dollars I made two thousand. That was what conservatism did for me. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

I'm obsessed with efficiency. And there are some tasks I need to just leave alone. And there are others - like an evening with one of my daughters or my wife - where I need to toss efficiency aside and simply be in the moment. — David Livermore

Most people probably become more jaded the longer they work in the world of work. — David Livermore

If I buy stocks on Smith's tip I must sell those same stocks on Smith's tip. I am depending on him. Suppose Smith is away on a holiday when the selling time comes around? — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

There are times when you should be completely out of the market, for emotional as well as economic reasons. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

May we all beware lest our innovative ideas appear very cliche before we even blink. — David Livermore

For me, the key question is what's behind the dangerous idea. If it's simply to stir things up and appear radical, I'm not interested. But if it's done with a quest to learn, evolve, and improve the quality of life for people everywhere, I'm on board. — David Livermore

Men who can both be right and sit tight are uncommon. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

Trust is consistently seen as a make or break component of innovation - particularly because the freedom to fail is an important part of innovation. — David Livermore

If a man is both wise and lucky, he will not make the same mistake twice. But he will make any one of ten thousand brothers or cousins of the original. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

I do think stories are one of the best tools for communicating across any number of cultures. But I also think there are wildly successful leaders who are introverted, disciplined, lead via spreadsheets and goals, and might not "appear" to be a great leader ... but in retrospect, made a massive impact. — David Livermore

At long as a stock is acting right, and the market is right, do not be in a hurry to take profits. One should never permit speculative ventures to run into investments. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

Most people, whether bull or bear, when they are right, are right for the wrong reason, in my opinion. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

The average man doesn't wish to be told that it is a bull or a bear market. What he desires is to be told specifically which particular stock to buy or sell. He wants to get something for nothing. He does not wish to work. He doesn't even wish to have to think. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

People who look for easy money invariable pay for the privilege of proving conclusively that it cannot be found on this earth. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

I cannot fear to be wrong because I never think I'm wrong until I am proven wrong. In fact, I am uncomfortable unless I am capitalizing my experience. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

He really meant to tell them that the big money was not in the individual fluctuations but in the main movements that is, not in reading the tape but in sizing up the entire market and its trend. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

Instead of hoping he must fear and instead of fearing he must hope. He must fear that his loss may develop into a much bigger loss, and hope that his profit may become a big profit. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

Even an organization that doesn't do much work internationally will benefit from a culturally intelligent strategy to innovation. Working across different generations, business units, regions, and functions are all factors that can also influence the innovation process. — David Livermore

The better you work to find the pain point and problem facing a diversity of users, the more clearly you can DEFINE the goal when you implement the process for culturally intelligent innovation. — David Livermore

Today when the public thinks of the products of science it is likely to think about environmental problems, an unproductive armament industry, careless or dishonest 'scientific' reports, Livermore cheers for 'nukes forever' and a huge amount of self-serving noise on every subject from global warming to 'the face of God'. — Leo Kadanoff

Smaller companies are often more homogenous. Don't simply increase your diversity because of the social pressure to do so. Instead, realize that hiring a more diverse team will give you a whole new repertoires of innovative ideas. And then develop a strategy for effectively using the diversity of your team. — David Livermore

When everyone thinks alike, there isn't much thinking taking place. Get out when you can, not when you have to. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

Culturally intelligent innovation begins with changing our impulse from Why can't you see it like I do? to Help me see what I might be missing! — David Livermore

Nature is good for all of us. When we're exposed to trees and other natural settings - even within the city, it fosters creativity. — David Livermore

Many Westerners see follow-through and reliability as the most critical factor in how they calculate the trustworthiness of another individual. In some other cultures, who you know and how you're related to other individuals is the most important variable. And for others, it may be as much about your reputation and what others have said about you. — David Livermore

It isn't a hunch but the subconscious mind, which is the creative mind, at work. That is the mind which makes artists do things without their knowing how they came to do them. Perhaps with me it was the cumulative effect of a lot of little things individually insignificant but collectively powerful. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

The very ability to empathize with a user requires that I have an understanding of that user's value and needs. This is what leads to many product fails. The individuals developing the innovation don't actually use it. — David Livermore

There are people who are out to take advantage of others and some who are merely putting in their time. But most of the people I encounter in the work place are desperately trying to make a difference and what to be effective at their jobs. — David Livermore

A man must study general conditions, to seize them so as to be able to anticipate probabilities. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

Every once in a while you must go to cash, take a break, take a vacation. Don't try to play the market all the time. It can't be done, too tough on the emotions. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

To anticipate the market is to gamble. To be patient and react only when the market gives the signal is to speculate. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

Why is it that I notice so many brilliant scientists using Macs for their personal computers; why does the Lawrence Livermore & Berkeley Labs buy millions of dollars worth of Macs? — Lene Hau

When I'm bearish and I sell a stock, each sale must be at a lower level than the previous sale. When I am buying, the reverse is true. I must buy on a rising scale. I don't buy long stocks on a scale down, I buy on a scale up. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

Remember this: When you are doing nothing, those speculators who feel they must trade day in and day out, are laying the foundation for your next venture. You will reap benefits from their mistakes. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

Szilard encouraged me to apply for a postdoc position at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory in Livermore, though he knew I might work on nuclear weapons eventually. My job interview with Teller was both stimulating and unnerving; at the end of it, I suspected Teller understood my thesis better than I did. It was also terrifying; I had no warning who would interview me. — Gregory Benford

I don't know whether I make myself plain, but I never lose my temper over the stock market. I never argue with the tape. Getting sore at the market doesn't get you anywhere. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

"On Pat Hearne - He made money in stocks, and that made people ask him for advice. He would never give any. If they asked him point-blank for his opinion about the wisdom of their commitments he used a favorite race-track maxim of his: "You can't tell till you bet."" — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

I never expected my graduate degrees to give me all the practical how-to's that can perhaps only be learned through the school of hard knocks. — David Livermore

For instance, let us say that a new stock has been listed in the last two or three years and its high was 20, or any other figure, and that such a price was made two or three years ago. If something favorable happens in connection with the company, and the stock starts upward, usually it is safe play to buy the minute it touches a brand new high. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

Clashing expectations are what most consistently derail any team, and especially a culturally diverse team. So if you take the time to "define" the goal carefully upfront, you've addressed one of the most difficult and important parts of the innovative process. — David Livermore

The more diverse your team, the better you'll be at identifying what a diversity of users perceive as problems. — David Livermore

long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God [to] make him happy."[21] In other words, sin is the result of self-centeredness and pride. — Kevin Livermore

I began to realize that the big money must necessarily be in the big swing. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

Money is made by sitting, not trading. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

Just remember, without discipline, a clear strategy, and a concise plan, the speculator will fall into all the emotional pitfalls of the market - jump from one stock to another, hold a losing position too long, and cut out of a winner too soon, for no reason other than fear of losing profit. Greed, Fear, Impatience, Ignorance, and Hope will all fight for mental dominance over the speculator. Then, after a few failures and catastrophes the speculator may become demoralised, depressed, despondent, and abandon the market and the chance to make a fortune from what the market has to offer. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

Generating diverse ideas requires being clear about the kind of input needed and creating multiple ways for diverse team members to share their ideas (e.g. use more than just a brainstorming session). — David Livermore

The best way to improve perspective taking is to see users up close. — David Livermore

Never try to sell at the top. It isn't wise. Sell after a reaction if there is no rally. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

Becoming a culturally intelligent innovators starts with something as basic as exercising self-control. — David Livermore

There is only one side of the market and it is not the bull side or the bear side, but the right side. — Jesse Livermore

Without faith in his own judgment no man can go very far in this game. That is about all I have learned - to study general conditions, to take a position and stick to it. I can wait without a twinge of impatience. I can see a setback without being shaken, knowing that it is only temporary. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

In the early days of the crash it was widely believed that Jesse L. Livermore, a Bostonian with a large and unquestionably exaggerated reputation for bear operations, leading a syndicate that was driving the market down. — John Kenneth Galbraith

These are people from everywhere, from Lawrence Livermore and JPL and Sandia National Labs, the FBI, all over the place, real scientists who see what we're doing, and they consistently thank us. "I agree your results aren't always right," they'll say, "but your methods are clearly showing that science is a re-creative process, and it's an interesting process because it's messy, and no other shows show that." — Adam Savage

Disregarding the big swing and trying to jump in and out was fatal to me. Nobody can catch all the fluctuations. In a bull market your game is to buy and hold until you believe that the bull market is near its end. To do this you must study general conditions and not tips or special factors affecting individual stocks. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

A market does not culminate in one grand blaze of glory. Neither does it end with a sudden reversal of form. A market can and does often cease to be a bull market long before prices generally begin to break. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

The price pattern reminds you that every movement of importance is but a repetition of similar price movements, that just as soon as you can familiarize yourself with the actions of the past, you will be able to anticipate and act correctly and profitably upon forthcoming movements. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

What really makes the difference in innovation is whether the corporate culture is paying attention to innovation. — David Livermore

There is nothing new in Wall Street. There can't be because speculation is as old as the hills. Whatever happens in the stock market today has happened before and will happen again. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

"I can't sleep" answered the nervous one.
"Why not?" asked the friend.
"I am carrying so much cotton that I can't sleep thinking about. It is wearing me out. What can I do?"
"Sell down to the sleeping point", answered the friend. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

Philanthropy is one of the most hopeful characteristics of our time. — Mary Livermore

Never buy at the bottom, and always sell too soon. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

One of the greatest ironies of the history of Christianity is that its leaders constantly gave in to the temptation of power - political power, military power, economic power, or moral and spiritual power - even though they continued to speak in the name of Jesus, who did not cling to his divine power but emptied himself and became as we are. — David A. Livermore

In truth, Edward Teller ran the Livermore Lab, but for public purposes he liked it better to be known as only an associate director — John Gofman

When you jump on a city bus or roam the streets off the major thoroughfares you'll quickly learn that we have as many differences as similarities. And therein lie the greatest opportunities for innovation - our different ways of viewing the world and coming up with solutions! — David Livermore

Trends come like a series of ocean waves, bringing the high tide when things are good and, as conditions recede, the low tide appears. These trends come unexpectedly, unpredictably, and they have to be weathered with temperance, poise, and patience- good or bad. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

No one ever went broke by taking a profit. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

If the unusual never happened there would be no difference in people and then there wouldn't be any fun in life. The game would become merely a matter of addition and subtraction. It would make of us a race of bookkeepers with plodding minds. It's the guessing that develops a man's brain power. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

There is the plain fool who does the wrong thing at all times anywhere, but there is the Wall Street fool who thinks he must trade all the time. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

Almost every one of the great religions of the world has made special provisions for them, and the woman who has preferred a celibate to a domestic life has been able to occupy a position of honor and usefulness. — Mary Livermore

A loss never bothers me after I take it. I forget it overnight. But being wrong - not taking the loss - that is what does damage to the pocketbook and to the soul. — Jesse Livermore

A man must believe in himself and his judgement if he expects to make a living at this game. That is why I don't believe in tips. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

Don't give me timing, give me time — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

Speculation is a hard and trying business, and a speculator must be on the job all the time or he'll soon have no job to be on. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

If I learned all this so slowly it was because I learned by my mistakes, and some time always elapses between making a mistake and realizing it, and more time between realizing it and exactly determining it. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

Minimization is what happens when we take the "world is flat" idea too far ... and act as if people everywhere are the same (and thereby minimizing the differences). — David Livermore

It is literally true that millions come easier to a trader after he knows how to trade, than hundreds did in the days of his ignorance. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

Experience has proved to me that real money made in speculating has been in commitments in a stock or commodity showing a profit right from the start. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

Don't take action with a trade until the market, itself, confirms your opinion. Being a little late in a trade is insurance that your opinion is correct. In other words, don't be an impatient trader. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

The game of speculation is the most uniformly fascinating game in the world. But it is not a game for the stupid, the mentally lazy, the person of inferior emotional balance, or the get-rich-quick adventurer. They will die poor. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

I never hesitate to tell a man that I am bullish or bearish. But I do not tell people to buy or sell any particular stock. In a bear market all stocks go down and in a bull market they go up. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

The stock market is never obvious. It is designed to fool most of the people, most of the time. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore

I was raised on technology. I grew up in Livermore, California, a town of physicists and cowboys. My parents worked at the government laboratories there. So technology was very normal for me. — Cynthia Breazeal

I did precisely the wrong thing. The cotton showed me a loss and I kept it. The wheat showed me a profit and I sold it out. Of all the speculative blunders there are few greater than trying to average a losing game. Always sell what shows you a loss and keep what shows you a profit. — Jesse Lauriston Livermore