Top 80 John Templeton Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “It is nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.”

— John Templeton

2. “Help yourself by helping others.”

— John Templeton

Featured in: Positivity Quotes, Values Quotes, Helping Others Quotes, Helping Quotes, Virtue Quotes

3. “Bull-markets are born on pessimism, grow on skepticism, mature on optimism and die on euphoria.”

— John Templeton

Featured in: Quotes About Money, Investing Quotes

4. “An attitude of gratitude creates blessings.”

— John Templeton

Featured in: Grateful Quotes, I Appreciate You Quotes, Thankful Thursday Quotes

5. “The person who really wants to do something finds a way; the other finds an excuse.”

— John Templeton

6. “Everyone has special talents, and it is our duty to find ours and use them well.”

— John Templeton

7. “The four most expensive words in the English language are, ‘This time it’s different.’”

— John Templeton

8. “Kindness comes back like a boomerang to those who are kind. Perhaps, its return takes years. Perhaps, the kindness returns from a different direction than that which we sent out kindness. But it will return. It is never lost.”

— John Templeton

9. “The commitment of giving your best at all times, in all circumstances and under all conditions, can enable you to find value in, and lend value to, every experience.”

— John Templeton

10. “There will always be bull markets followed by bear markets followed by bull markets.”

— John Templeton

11. “By facing our challenges and overcoming them, we grow stronger, wiser, and more compassionate.”

— John Templeton

12. “The time of maximum pessimism is the best time to buy.”

— John Templeton

13. “Success is a process of continually seeking answers to new questions.”

— John Templeton

14. “It is impossible to produce superior performance unless you do something very different.”

— John Templeton

15. “Diversify your investments.”

— John Templeton

16. “For those properly prepared, the bear market is not only a calamity but an opportunity.”

— John Templeton

17. “An attitude of gratitude creates blessings. Help yourself by helping others. You have the most powerful weapons on earth – love and prayer.”

— John Templeton

18. “If you want to have a better performance than the crowd, you must do things differently from the crowd.”

— John Templeton

19. “The opposite of humility is arrogance – the belief that we are wiser or better than others. Arrogance promotes separation rather than community. It looms like a brick wall between us and those from whom we could learn.”

— John Templeton

20. “Invest at the point of maximum pessimism.”

— John Templeton

21. “To buy when others are despondently selling and sell when others are greedily buying requires the greatest fortitude and pays the greatest reward.”

— John Templeton

22. “Tell your readers to use it or lose it. If you don’t use your muscles, they get weak. If you don’t use your mind it begins to fail.”

— John Templeton

23. “If we become increasingly humble about how little we know, we may be more eager to search.”

— John Templeton

24. “Those who spend too much will eventually be owned by those who are thrifty.”

— John Templeton

25. “If you’re not grateful, you’re not rich – no matter how much you have.”

— John Templeton

26. “If we have not developed a reservoir of spiritual wealth, no amount of money is likely to make us happy. Spiritual wealth provides faith. It gives us love. It brings and expands wisdom. Spiritual wealth leads to happiness because it guides us into useful or loving relationships.”

— John Templeton

27. “Each of us has a purpose for living beyond our own survival and pleasure. Every individual is like a thread in a beautiful tapestry with a vital contribution to make, not only to the sustenance of life as we know it, but in the creation and development of more beneficial expressions of life.”

— John Templeton

28. “The air we breathe is necessary to keep us alive, but we must continually breathe it out so we can breathe fresh air back into our lungs. God gives us his love, which we can keep in action by breathing it out to others, thus making room in our hearts for a fresh supply of love.”

— John Templeton

29. “The best investment with the least risk and the greatest dividend is giving.”

— John Templeton

30. “For all long-term investors, there is only one objective-maximum total real return after taxes.”

— John Templeton

31. “Happiness pursued eludes, happiness given returns.”

— John Templeton

32. “Outperforming the majority of investors requires doing what they are not doing. Buying when others have despaired, and selling when they are full of hope, takes fortitude.”

— John Templeton

33. “Would it not be strange if a universe without purpose accidentally created humans who are so obsessed with purpose?”

— John Templeton

34. “Work at being a humble person.”

— John Templeton

35. “As we learn to share and give and care, love increases. A person who knows how to love does not seem to feel lonely or alone. In this sense, the power of love can become a true weapon against harm.”

— John Templeton

36. “How wonderful it would be if we could help our children and grandchildren to learn thanksgiving at an early age. Thanksgiving opens the doors. It changes a child’s personality. A child is resentful, negative, or thankful. Thankful children want to give, they radiate happiness, they draw people.”

— John Templeton

37. “What happens to us in life is less important; the real question can be whether or not we use the experience to grow.”

— John Templeton

38. “Let no day go by without counting your blessing.”

— John Templeton

39. “The person who is willing to say yes to experience is the person who discovers new frontiers.”

— John Templeton

40. “Surprising and interesting things happen to those who keep their eyes and their minds open and alert!”

— John Templeton

41. “Thanksgiving being thankful or grateful results in more to be thankful for.”

— John Templeton

42. “High ethics and religious principles form the basis for success and happiness in every area of life.”

— John Templeton

43. “Living life with a smile is like throwing yeast into a bowl of flour, adding warm water and waiting for the flour to rise. It multiplies may times over.”

— John Templeton

44. “If a business is not ethical, it will fail, perhaps not right away but eventually.”

— John Templeton

45. “Humility about how little I know has encouraged me to listen more carefully and more wisely.”

— John Templeton

46. “Do your homework or hire wise experts to help you. Never jump into a business you have no idea about.”

— John Templeton

47. “Share prices fluctuate more than share values.”

— John Templeton

48. “You must be a fundamentalist to be really successful in the market.”

— John Templeton

49. “Sell a stock only when you have found a new stock that is a 50% better bargain than the one that you hold.”

— John Templeton

50. “To get joy, we must give it and to keep joy, we must scatter it.”

— John Templeton