Scripture has a great deal to say about the fool, and almost none of it is flattering. The fool is not unintelligent; he is unwise. He believes what he wishes were true and acts as though wishing made it so. In investing, as in life, that is an expensive way to live.
The Wisdom of Limits
The wise investor begins with what he does not know. He respects the limits of forecasting, the persistence of risk, and the long odds against outsmarting a market full of capable people. Humility, it turns out, is not a soft virtue in this business — it is a competitive one.
The fool believes what he wishes were true. The steward begins with what he does not know.
We would rather build portfolios that are wise than portfolios that are clever. Cleverness impresses; wisdom endures — and endurance is precisely what the institutions we serve require.
— Ross Roggensack