John Templeton
Three of my children are medical doctors, they know at least a hundred times as much about your body as my grandfather knew, but they don't know much more about soul than he did.Collection: Medical
It is nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.
The idea that an individual can find God is terribly self-centered. It is like a wave thinking it can find the sea.
If you are not egotistical, you will welcome the opportunity to learn more.
If we become increasingly humble about how little we know, we may be more eager to search.
Anybody who had come up with a new concept would have been under suspicion for being out of step with the tradition or out of step with the teachings of the church.
I thought, I'm only going to be on this planet once, and only for a short time. What can I do with my life that will lead to permanent benefits?
The correct description is that we try every day to become more humble when we talk about divinity, we try to realize how little we know and how open minded we should be.
It's self-centered to think that human beings, as limited as we are, can describe divinity.
I wouldn't call it radical; I would call it enthusiasm for progress.
The question is not is there a God, but is there anything else except God? God is everyone and each of us is a little bit.
Work at being a humble person.
A doctor today would never prescribe the treatments my grandfather used in the Confederate Army, but a minister says pretty much the same thing today that a minister would have said back then.
I believe all religions are becoming obsolete, clinging to ancient concepts.
I focus on spiritual wealth now, and I'm busier, more enthusiastic, and more joyful than I have ever been.
I'm really convinced that our descendants a century or two from now will look back at us with the same pity that we have toward the people in the field of science two centuries ago.
Bull markets are born on pessimism, grown on skepticism, mature on optimism and die on euphoria. The time of maximum pessimism is the best time to buy, and the time of maximum optimism is the best time to sell.Collection: Optimism
If you want to have a better performance than the crowd, you must do things differently from the crowd.Collection: Investing
To buy when others are despondently selling and sell when others are greedily buying requires the greatest fortitude and pays the greatest reward.Collection: Investing
The person who really wants to do something finds a way; the other finds an excuse.Collection: Determination
Happiness comes from spiritual wealth, not material wealth... Happiness comes from giving, not getting. If we try hard to bring happiness to others, we cannot stop it from coming to us also. To get joy, we must give it, and to keep joy, we must scatter it. .Collection: Happiness
The four most expensive words in the English language are, 'This time it's different.'Collection: Money
I never ask if the market is going to go up or down because I don't know, and besides it doesn't matter. I search nation after nation for stocks, asking: 'Where is the one that is lowest-priced in relation to what I believe it's worth?' Forty years of experience have taught me you can make money without ever knowing which way the market is going.Collection: Believe
Focus on value because most investors focus on outlooks and trends.Collection: Focus
Invest at the point of maximum pessimism.Collection: Pessimism
We have a choice. We can live in the past and be miserable and unhappy, or we can pick ourselves up and move ahead in life. When we choose to focus forward, we can find the energy and ability to remove any obstacles that may appear to be hindering our smooth progression. If you take stock of yourself and find you may be spending time frequently reliving unhappy experiences of the past, make the decision to rid yourself of the ties that bind you to a former way of life.Collection: Moving
For those properly prepared, the bear market is not only a calamity but an opportunity.Collection: Opportunity
Success is a process of continually seeking answers to new questions.Collection: Answers
Outperforming the majority of investors requires doing what they are not doing. Buying when others have despaired, and selling when they are full of hope, takes fortitude.Collection: Majority
Everyone has special talents, and it is our duty to find ours and use them well.Collection: Special
An attitude of gratitude creates blessings. Help yourself by helping others. You have the most powerful weapons on earth - love and prayer.Collection: Love
If you're not grateful, you're not rich - no matter how much you have.Collection: Grateful
The person who is willing to say yes to experience is the person who discovers new frontiers.Collection: New Frontiers
Bull-markets are born on pessimism, grow on skepticism, mature on optimism and die on euphoria.Collection: Optimistic
Sell a stock only when you have found a new stock that is a 50% better bargain than the one that you hold.Collection: Found
When we have no goal, or when our vision of the goal is obscured, we may lose our sense of purpose. Even when we've prepared ourselves well and have an aptitude for a given activity, poorly directed efforts can rob us of vital energy. We can spend a great deal of our time, money, and other resources running around in circles. Unless we create specific goals that match our purpose in life and unless we keep a clear vision of these goals, we may eventually falter and fail.Collection: Running
It is only by understanding the emotion of others that an investor has a chance to produce superior results.Collection: Understanding
[The main focus in my life now is] to open people's minds so no one will be so conceited that they think they have the total truth. They should be eager to learn, to listen, to research and not to confine, to hurt, to kill, those who disagree with them.Collection: Hurt
What happens to us in life is less important; the real question can be whether or not we use the experience to grow.Collection: Real
The best investment with the least risk and the greatest dividend is giving.Collection: Generosity
A lot of people talk about life. Some love it. Some disparage it. And a few realize that life can be what you make it because they have learned from past experiences. Lessons learned from these experiences have often contributed greatly toward seeing the possibilities in what some people call "the game of life." When we've "been there" and "done that," we can have as good of an idea of what we don't want as what we do want. Experience is certainly an excellent teacher!Collection: Teacher
In my 45-year career as an investment counselor, humility did show me the need for worldwide diversification to reduce risk. That career did help me to become more and more humble because statistics showed that when I advised a client to buy one stock to replace another, about one-third of the time the client would have done better to ignore my advice. In other endeavors, humility about how little I know has encouraged me to listen more carefully and more wisely.Collection: Humble
Living life with a smile is like throwing yeast into a bowl of flour, adding warm water and waiting for the flour to rise. It multiplies may times over.Collection: Smile
Politicians who are willing to spend too much are the ones who get reelected.Collection: Too Much
When we desire to be a blessing, we find that there are many ways in which we can bless others. We can give material goods to others, and we can also offer them the benefit of our experience. People who have faced and overcome challenges with alcohol and drugs often involve themselves in helping others who are experiencing similar difficulties. They understand the value of overcoming the problem. In every area of the human experience, we may find those precious ones who are able and willing to be a blessing to others.Collection: Blessing
A grower of chrysanthemums awaited a visit from the emperor, who was coming to enjoy his blossoms, of which there were hundreds in bloom. The grower selected one magnificent specimen, then cut down all the others, leaving this one perfect flower. The emperor arrived and sat for several hours quietly gazing at this beautiful flower, letting its beauty have its way with him. Can you imagine being so caught up in appreciation of one flower that everything else fades into the background?Collection: Beautiful
What are we going to get out of life? This can understandably be a question of fundamental importance to us. We begin with certain basic needs and desires. It is important to have a comfortable home, plenty of food, a meaningful and well-paying job, comfort, companionship, and joy. However, many of us have not fully realized a simple, basic principle: for our receiving to take place, we must first give. Giving and receiving are two aspects of the same law of life.Collection: Life
Let no day go by without counting your blessing.Collection: Gratitude
How wonderful it would be if we could help our children and grandchildren to learn thanksgiving at an early age. Thanksgiving opens the doors. It changes a child's personality. A child is resentful, negative, or thankful. Thankful children want to give, they radiate happiness, they draw people.Collection: Thanksgiving
Most people think of love as some sort of power outside of themselves that will "take them away from all of this." Sadly, this is not the case. Love exists only within our own hearts, and to have happy relationships we must first become truly loving people. And as we fill our hearts with love by expressing love for others in thought, word, and deed ("acting as if" until we make it happen if necessary), that love can heal our own lives, help to solve our problems, and enable us to feel good about ourselves.Collection: Love