--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The genuine investor in common stocks…" description: "\"The genuine investor in common stocks does not need a great equipment of brain and knowledge, but he does need some unusual qualities of character\" — B..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/017/benjamin-graham-1531_brain_the-genuine-investor-in-common-stocks-do_683394.jpg" --- # The genuine investor in common stocks does not need a… ![“The genuine investor in common stocks does not need a great equipment of brain and knowledge, but he does need some unusual qualities of character” quote by Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/017/benjamin-graham-1531_brain_the-genuine-investor-in-common-stocks-do_683394.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/017/benjamin-graham-1531_brain_the-genuine-investor-in-common-stocks-do_683394.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/017/benjamin-graham-1531_brain_the-genuine-investor-in-common-stocks-do_683394.jpg) > “The genuine investor in common stocks does not need a great equipment of brain and knowledge, but he does need some unusual qualities of character” [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Investing success relies more on character traits like patience and discipline than on raw intellect or extensive knowledge. **In simple terms:** Character matters more than intellect in investing. Key Takeaway Cultivate patience and discipline. Themes investing character discipline patience risk management Mood thoughtful analytical cautious Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - portfolio building - long‑term investing - risk assessment - financial planning Key Concepts behavioral finance psychology of markets Questions to Reflect On - How can you strengthen your patience in market downturns? - What character traits do you think are most undervalued in investors? A Different Perspective Great intellect cannot compensate for lack of integrity and patience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Common](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common/) [Common Stocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common-stocks-341960/) [Customer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/customer/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Equipment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/equipment/) [Genuine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genuine/) [Genuine Investor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genuine-investor-5403752/) [Investing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investing/) [Investor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investor/) [Investor Common](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investor-common-5403753/) [Investors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investors/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) [Unusual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unusual/) [Unusual Qualities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unusual-qualities-4188021/) ## Related quotes > [“Traumatic memories have a number of unusual qualities. 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The prices of common stocks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/security-analysis-cannot-presume-to-lay-down-general-rules-as-to-the/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [“I have little confidence even in the ability of analysts, let alone untrained investors, to select common stocks that will give better than average…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/i-have-little-confidence-even-in-the-ability-of-analysts-let-alone/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [Most of the time common stocks are subject to irrational and excessive price fluctuations in both directions as the consequence of the ingrained tendency…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/most-of-the-time-common-stocks-are-subject-to-irrational-and/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [A price decline is of no real importance to the bona fide investor unless it is either very substantial say, more than a third…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/a-price-decline-is-of-no-real-importance-to-the-bona-fide-investor/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [“We recommended that the investor divide his holdings between high-grade bonds and leading common stocks; that the proportion held in bonds be never less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/we-recommended-that-the-investor-divide-his-holdings-between-high/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [The history of the past fifty years, and longer, indicates that a diversified holding of representative common stocks will prove more profitable over a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-history-of-the-past-fifty-years-and-longer-indicates-that-a/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [If you are shopping for common stocks, choose them the way you would buy groceries, not the way you would buy perfume.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/if-you-are-shopping-for-common-stocks-choose-them-the-way-you-would/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [It always seemed, and still seems, ridiculously simple to say that if one can acquire a diversified group of common stocks at a price…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/it-always-seemed-and-still-seems-ridiculously-simple-to-say-that-if/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [Nearly everyone interested in common stocks wants to be told by someone else what he thinks the market is going to do. 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A creditable, if unspectacular, result can be achieved by the lay investor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-art-of-investment-has-one-characteristic-that-is-not-generally/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [We have not known a single person who has consistently or lastingly make money by thus "following the market". We do not hesitate to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/we-have-not-known-a-single-person-who-has-consistently-or-lastingly/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [The essence of investment management is the management of risks, not the management of returns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-essence-of-investment-management-is-the-management-of-risks-not/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [Wall Street people learn nothing and forget everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/wall-street-people-learn-nothing-and-forget-everything/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [In security analysis the prime stress is laid upon protection against untoward events. 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