Emerson and Buffett Agree on One Thing: Patience
Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson wasn’t an investor, but his writing suggests that he had the temperament of a value investor. Time rewards the patient by enabling investors to ride out downturns and stick with booms, rather than sell out of fear or greed. Staying invested also gives your investments more time to grow.
While I don't believe Warren Buffett's investing partner, Charlie Munger, ever directly quoted Emerson, he certainly agreed with the philosopher about patience:
The first rule of compounding is to never interrupt it unnecessarily. Waiting helps you as an investor and a lot of people just can't stand to wait. If you didn't get the deferred-gratification gene, you've got to work very hard to overcome that.
— Charlie Munger
The wisdom of these two great Americans was the same: patience pays off.
For more of Munger's wisdom, read Janet Lowe's irreplaceable Damn Right!: Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger.
The best place to start with Emerson is Ralph Waldo Emerson: Essential Essays, edited by Harold Bloom.
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