Born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1856, George Bernard Shaw grew to become one of Great Britain’s greatest and most controversial playwrights. Shaw’s father, a corn merchant, was an alcoholic and therefore there was very little money to spend on George’s education. George went to local schools but never went to university and was largely self-taught.
He was also a co-founder of the London School of Economics, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925 and an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (Pygmalion) in 1938.
G. Bernard Shaw had quite a bit to say during his lifetime, so here are 10 of his many quotes and what we, as traders, can learn from
1. Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.
Don’t believe everything you find on the Internet. There are thousands of trading related websites out there and many of them are created by people who know little or nothing about what they’re talking about or – worse – what they want you to buy. Remember to always do your due diligence. In trading, delusion costs you time and money.
2. Everything happens to everybody sooner or later if there is time enough.
Patience is very important. Don’t expect to achieve your goals in just a few weeks or months. It takes time and dedication to learn what you need to know in order to survive the market.
3. He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches.
It’s no secret that most traders fail and quit trading relatively fast. We should accept the fact that trading is not for everyone. Kind of like politics, burglary, pest control, high-rise window washing, surgery, quantitative engineering etc. – just insert other dangerous, high skill requiring or even disgusting jobs that only a few people are able to do.
Will you be one of those to quit trading someday? Here is a good exit plan for those who eventually accept the fact that trading is not for them: Did you learn a lot of things about trading, although it didn’t work out, but can be helpful for some people? – Then write a book or a trading course and sell it :)
4. Man can climb to the highest summits, but he cannot dwell there long
There are cycles everywhere. Being successful is a cycle which, sooner or later – or on a long enough timeline – always comes to an end. Enjoy it and do good things while it lasts.
5. People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.
If you finally find something that works for you and you enjoy what you do, don’t let other people tell you that you are doing it wrong.
6. Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time.
What are your biggest trading mistakes? Do you remember them? It’s always a good idea to write them down on a list and check that list on a regular basis. Try to find patterns as there’s often a tight relation between smaller mistakes – resulting in trading mistakes of greater magnitude.
7. The minority is sometimes right; the majority always wrong.
More than 90% of traders lose and that’s a fact. Do you believe that doing exactly the same things they do, trading exactly the same way they trade, expecting the same thing they expect – will make you one of the few that are successful? Then you are most likely wrong.
8. We must always think about things, and we must think about things as they are, not as they are said to be.
Details matter, but try to see the forest for the trees. Don’t let the gigantic river of news, opinions, rumours influence your beliefs, plans and strategies.
9. If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.
Unless you found the “holy grail of trading”, it’s a good idea to share information with others. Sometimes many small ideas equal a big one.
10. Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything
Always adapt: understand new market dynamics and be ready to go with the flow.
This is all for now. If you liked this article, you may want to check a similar one: 10 trading lessons to learn from Albert Einstein
Feedback is always welcome, so feel free to post your comments below
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