In North America, the greatest threat to the Jewish people is not the external force of antisemitism, but the internal forces of apathy, inertia and ignorance of our own heritage.

Just as outright euphoria is often a sign of a market top, fear is for sure a sign of a market bottom. Time and time again, in every market cycle I have witnessed, the extremes of emotion always appear, even among experienced investors. When the world wants to buy only treasury bills, you can almost close your eys and get long stocks.

The hardest thing over the years has been having the courage to go against the dominant wisdom of the time, to have a view that is at variance with the present consensus and bet that view.

The markets are always changing, and the successful trader needs to adapt to these changes.

A good trader has to have three things: a chronic inability to accept things at face value, to feel continuously unsettled, and to have humility.

Good investing is a peculiar balance between the conviction to follow your ideas and the flexibility to recognize when you have made a mistake.

A little part of my life is built around ancient art.

Part of my attraction to ancient art is that there is an element of risk, of speculation.

If you see a wonderful archaic Greek marble object in a museum, it's not only that it's beautiful, but what comes to your mind is the fact that it's 2,600 or so years old, and it was done by a human being at that time who you have such a limited ability to grasp - and yet you have this enormous ability to grasp.

Time and again, in every market cycle I have witnessed, the extremes of emotion always appear, even among experienced investors. When the world wants to buy only [bonds], you can almost close your eyes and [buy] stocks.

Art is a form of asset. Hedge-fund managers who have made money fast should diversify into other areas.

Brokerage firms don't sell customers stock so much as they sell those horrible mutual funds