Alternatives Quote by Joel Greenblatt
“So one way to create an attractive risk/reward situation is to limit downside risk severely by investing in situations that have a large margin of safety. The upside, while still difficult to quantify, will usually take care of itself. In other words, look down, not up, when making your initial investment decision. If you don’t lose money, most of the remaining alternatives are good ones.”
About This Quote
Source Book: The Little Book That Still Beats the Market, Joel Greenblatt, 2010
Investing with a strong safety margin reduces downside risk, allowing upside to emerge naturally; focus on low‑risk entry points.
In simple terms: Limit downside, let upside handle itself.
Key Takeaway
Prioritize safety, then seek upside.
Themes
investing
risk management
margin of safety
value investing
Mood
cautious
optimistic
Type
advisory
strategic
When to use this quote
- stock selection
- venture capital
- real estate
- portfolio construction
- business acquisitions
Key Concepts
Margin of safety
expected value
asymmetric risk
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you identify a true margin of safety?
- When might a low‑risk entry still fail?
A Different Perspective
If the market misprices safety, opportunities may be scarce.
![“It is way less certain to be a wonderful business in the future. The threat is alternative mediums of information. Every newspaper is scrambling to parlay their existing advantage into dominance on the Internet. But it is way less sure [that this will occur] than the certainty 20 years ago that…” quote by Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/8d0/charlie-munger-458_advantage_it-is-way-less-certain-to-be-a-wonderful_59627.jpg)
![“There are three important principles to Graham's approach. [The first is to look at stocks as fractional shares of a business, which] gives you an entirely different view than most people who are in the market. [The second principle is the margin-of-safety concept, which] gives you the competitive…” quote by Warren Buffett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/72f/warren-buffett-183_advantage_there-are-three-important-principles-to_784492.jpg)
![“There's a clarity that comes with great ideas: You can [easily and simply] explain why something's a great business, how and why it's cheap, why it's cheap for temporary reasons and how, on a normal basis, it should be trading at a much higher level. You're never sitting there on the 40th page of…” quote by Joel Greenblatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ffb/joel-greenblatt-21588_agonizing_there-s-a-clarity-that-comes-with-great_467148.jpg)
![“[When asked how it felt to be a female prime minister:] I don't know: I've never experienced the alternative.” quote by Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/324/margaret-thatcher-463_alternatives_when-asked-how-it-felt-to-be-a-female-pr_15081.jpg)
