There's Plenty to Learn from these Words of Wisdom

After spending 20 years on the trading floors of some of the biggest banks in the world, I've heard my fair share of famous trading quotes.

Many were often used in jest but the fact is there is a lot of truth and learning to be had from these famous traders. After all, they aren't famous because they lost all their cash!

Here's my top 10 Trading Quotes

1. Warren Buffett

No matter how great the talent or efforts, some things take time. You can't produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.

2. George Soros

Once we realize that imperfect understanding is the human condition there is no shame in being wrong, only in failing to correct our mistakes.

3. Richard Dennis

You have to minimize your losses and try to preserve capital for those very few instances where you can make a lot in a very short period of time. What you can't afford to do is throw away your capital on sub-optimal trades.

4. Martin Schwartz

A lot of people get so enmeshed in the markets that they lose their perspective. Working longer does not necessarily equate with working smarter. In fact, sometimes is the other way around.

5. Paul Tudor Jones

The secret to being successful from a trading perspective is to have an indefatigable and an undying and unquenchable thirst for information and knowledge.

6. Larry Hite

If you diversify, control your risk, and go with the trend, it just has to work.

7. Jesse Livermore

Speculators without a plan are like a general without a strategy, and therefore without an actionable battle plan. Speculators without a single clear plan can only act and react, act and react, to the slings and arrows of stock market misfortune, until they are defeated.

8. Brian Shannon

You need a well-thought-out plan which anticipates all potential scenarios to keep you from making impulsive and emotional decisions during market hours. You are being bombarded constantly with new information from peers, television, price action, websites, etc. Trading is a business, and if you want your business to thrive you must have a plan which you execute flawlessly.

9. Bruce Kovner

My experience with novice traders is that they trade three to five times too big. They are taking 5 to 10 percent risks on a trade when they should be taking 1 to 2 percent risks.

10. John Paulson

No one strategy is correct all the time.

These quotes should give you some insight into how you should prepare and mentally approach your trading. If you walk around a dealing room you'll find many of them plastered on the trader's screens as they constantly remind themselves what it takes to be an elite trader.

Sorry There's Just 1 More Trading Quote

My personal favourite though belongs to no other but George Soros and it sums up the courage and aggression you need to strike when the irons hot. I had this stuck to my trade screens for many years at Citibank:

Go for the Jugular!

​What's your favourite trading quote? Learn more about the best day traders in the world.