--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There's a clarity that comes with great…" description: "\"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 c..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffb/joel-greenblatt-21588_agonizing_there-s-a-clarity-that-comes-with-great_467148.jpg" --- # There's a clarity that comes with great ideas: You can… ![“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/i/ffb/joel-greenblatt-21588_agonizing_there-s-a-clarity-that-comes-with-great_467148.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffb/joel-greenblatt-21588_agonizing_there-s-a-clarity-that-comes-with-great_467148.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffb/joel-greenblatt-21588_agonizing_there-s-a-clarity-that-comes-with-great_467148.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 your spreadsheet, as Buffett would say, agonizing over whether you should buy or not.” [Joel Greenblatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-greenblatt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Great business ideas are easily explained, cheap, and should trade higher; avoid over‑analysis on details. **In simple terms:** Good ideas are simple and undervalued. Key Takeaway Seek clear, cheap, high‑potential opportunities. Themes investment valuation clarity Mood thoughtful pragmatic Type advice financial When to use this quote - stock selection - portfolio building - business analysis Key Concepts value investing mental models Questions to Reflect On - What criteria confirm a simple idea’s value? - How to balance simplicity with thorough due diligence? A Different Perspective Over‑simplification may ignore risks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Clarity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clarity/) [Customer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/customer/) [Great idea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-idea/) [Great ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-ideas/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Trading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trading/) ## Related quotes > [To put it simply, we first explain what we are talking about, and then explain why what we are saying is true (pace Bertrand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iu-i-manin/to-put-it-simply-we-first-explain-what-we-are-talking-about-and-then/) [IU?. I. Manin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iu-i-manin/) > [The great lesson in microeconomics is to discriminate between when technology is going to help you and when it's going to kill you. 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They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/if-there-are-still-honest-smart-men-and-women-within-those-old-and/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [Warren Buffett pays taxes on a smaller percentage of his billions in income than his cleaning lady.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-alterman/warren-buffett-pays-taxes-on-a-smaller-percentage-of-his-billions-in/) [Eric Alterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-alterman/) > [Warren Buffett once wrote that value investing is like an inoculation--it either takes or it doesn't--and when you explain to somebody what it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-klarman/warren-buffett-once-wrote-that-value-investing-is-like-an-inoculation/) [Seth Klarman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-klarman/) > [If you look at anyone who has achieved great success and wealth, people like Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey, or Lance Armstrong, they have all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/if-you-look-at-anyone-who-has-achieved-great-success-and-wealth/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [All capitalists should be like Warren Buffett, and he says he should be taxed more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-asner/all-capitalists-should-be-like-warren-buffett-and-he-says-he-should/) [Ed Asner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-asner/) > [I admire people like Warren Buffett that are donating so much money to charity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bethenny-frankel/i-admire-people-like-warren-buffett-that-are-donating-so-much-money/) [Bethenny Frankel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bethenny-frankel/) > [Good for Warren Buffett that he can afford to do that! Some people, sometimes, need to finance a purchase or rent a car, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-warren/good-for-warren-buffett-that-he-can-afford-to-do-that-some-people/) [Elizabeth Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-warren/) ## More by Joel Greenblatt > [Figure out what something is worth and pay a lot less.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-greenblatt/figure-out-what-something-is-worth-and-pay-a-lot-less/) [Joel Greenblatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-greenblatt/) > [We are busy surviving, herding, fixating on what just happened, and being overconfident!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-greenblatt/we-are-busy-surviving-herding-fixating-on-what-just-happened-and/) [Joel Greenblatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-greenblatt/) > [The secret to investing is to figure out the value of something - and then pay a lot less.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-greenblatt/the-secret-to-investing-is-to-figure-out-the-value-of-something-and/) [Joel Greenblatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-greenblatt/) > [Remember, it’s the quality of your ideas not the quantity that will result in the big money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-greenblatt/remember-it-s-the-quality-of-your-ideas-not-the-quantity-that-will/) [Joel Greenblatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-greenblatt/) > [“Perhaps, since the measurement of potential gain and loss from a particular stock is so subjective, it is easier, if you are a professional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-greenblatt/perhaps-since-the-measurement-of-potential-gain-and-loss-from-a/) [Joel Greenblatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-greenblatt/) > [Here is part of the tradeoff with diversification. 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You may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-greenblatt/choosing-individual-stocks-without-any-idea-of-what-you-re-looking/) [Joel Greenblatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-greenblatt/) > [If you spend your energies looking for and analysing situations not closely followed by other informed investors, your chance of finding bargains greatly increases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-greenblatt/if-you-spend-your-energies-looking-for-and-analysing-situations-not/) [Joel Greenblatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-greenblatt/) > [I still believe that for good business analysts a concentrated portfolio is a good strategy combined with a long term horizon. Once again, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-greenblatt/i-still-believe-that-for-good-business-analysts-a-concentrated/) [Joel Greenblatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-greenblatt/) > [“Somehow, when ownership interests are divided into shares that bounce around with Mr. Market’s moods, individuals and professionals start to think about and measure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-greenblatt/somehow-when-ownership-interests-are-divided-into-shares-that-bounce/) [Joel Greenblatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-greenblatt/) [Explore all 29 Joel Greenblatt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-greenblatt/) ## More Agonizing quotes > [The reason so many people do not pray is because of its cost. 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It would first suffer and then die an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmin-mogahed/what-would-happen-to-a-body-that-was-starved-suffocated-and-then/) [Yasmin Mogahed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmin-mogahed/) > [I am now about to make the great adventure. I cannot endure this agonizing pain any longer. It is all over my body. Neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clara-blandick/i-am-now-about-to-make-the-great-adventure-i-cannot-endure-this/) Clara Blandick > [“The words were pulled from her, agonizing, like a disembowelment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-jayne/the-words-were-pulled-from-her-agonizing-like-a-disembowelment/) [Dawn Jayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-jayne/) > [I have thought about this issue of abortion time and again. It is not an easy issue for most people. I came to believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-durbin/i-have-thought-about-this-issue-of-abortion-time-and-again-it-is-not/) [Dick Durbin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-durbin/) > [Even in the inevitable moments when all seems hopeless, men know that without hope they cannot really live, and in agonizing desperation they cry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/even-in-the-inevitable-moments-when-all-seems-hopeless-men-know-that/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [It is life that fights and struggles and rages; life, that tears at you in its last agonizing throes to hold on, even if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/it-is-life-that-fights-and-struggles-and-rages-life-that-tears-at-you/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [If the general attitude of Canadians toward their mighty neighbor to the south could be distilled into a single phrase, that phrase would probably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-mccall/if-the-general-attitude-of-canadians-toward-their-mighty-neighbor-to/) [Bruce McCall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-mccall/) > [To be put down in this world, and given only eighty years to get to know it in, is like being let loose in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-struther/to-be-put-down-in-this-world-and-given-only-eighty-years-to-get-to/) [Jan Struther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-struther/) > [I still have in my memory, almost agonizing impressions of a serious illness which I had when I was about eight years old. 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