Top 80 John Templeton Quotes (2024 Update)
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51. “Be very careful. Giving because we think we will get something back will not work. You must be 100 percent willing to give and never experience any return, or it will not work.”

— John Templeton

52. “If you are curious as to what your future may hold, you can look into a mirror. What is reflecting back? Does a sparkle in your eyes indicate excitement about new adventures and opportunities? Does a smile on your lips portray an inner happiness and abundant goodwill towards others?”

— John Templeton

53. “Usually God favours the people who try to do good. So, when you find that the crowd is desperately trying to sell, help them and buy. When you find that the crowd is overenthusiastically trying to buy, help them and sell. It usually works out.”

— John Templeton

54. “A successful life depends less on how long you live than on how much you can pack into the time you have.”

— John Templeton

55. “Hate, like prayer, changes the person involved in the activity, not the person the activity is aimed at.”

— John Templeton

56. “The objective of our religious foundations is to teach people that they are hurting themselves when they say they believe something. What we should realize is we know almost nothing about God and therefore we should be eager to search and to learn.”

— John Templeton

57. “If you are not egotistical, you will welcome the opportunity to learn more.”

— John Templeton

58. “It is only by understanding the emotion of others that an investor has a chance to produce superior results.”

— John Templeton

59. “Before this century is over, the Dow Jones Industrial Average will probably be over one million versus around 10,000 now. So for the long-term, the outlook is tremendously bullish if you buy stocks blindly to keep for a century.”

— John Templeton

60. “Never forget: the secret of creating riches for oneself is to create them for others.”

— John Templeton

61. “Self-improvement comes mainly from trying to help others.”

— John Templeton

62. “Three of my children are medical doctors; they know at least a hundred times as much about your body as my grandfather knew, but they don’t know much more about soul than he did.”

— John Templeton

63. “The only way to experience love is to give it.”

— John Templeton

64. “Faith does not imply a closed, but an open mind. Quite the opposite of blindness, faith appreciates the vast spiritual realities that materialists overlook by getting trapped in the purely physical.”

— John Templeton

65. “The main focus in my life now is to open people’s minds so no one will be so conceited that they think they have the total truth. They should be eager to learn, to listen, to research and not to confine, to hurt, to kill, those who disagree with them.”

— John Templeton

66. “I thought, I’m only going to be on this planet once, and only for a short time. What can I do with my life that will lead to permanent benefits?”

— John Templeton

67. “While there are many problems, if one focuses on the bigger picture there are numerous reasons to be thankful for living in a time of remarkable progress and wonderful possibilities for the future.”

— John Templeton

68. “I focus on spiritual wealth now, and I’m busier, more enthusiastic, and more joyful than I have ever been.”

— John Templeton

69. “True peace is a quality you carry within yourself, regardless of external circumstances.”

— John Templeton

70. “I have no quarrel with what I learned in the Presbyterian church – I am still an enthusiastic Christian. But why shouldn’t I try to learn more? Why shouldn’t I go to Hindu services? Why shouldn’t I go to Muslim services? If you are not egotistical, you will welcome the opportunity to learn more.”

— John Templeton

71. “I believe all religions are becoming obsolete, clinging to ancient concepts.”

— John Templeton

72. “The other boys at Yale came from wealthy families, and none of them were investing outside the United States, and I thought, ‘That is very egotistical. Why be so shortsighted or near-sighted as to focus only on America? Shouldn’t you be more open-minded?’”

— John Templeton

73. “Basic reality seems to be that the more you try to be like God by radiating unlimited love, the more you become flooded by waves of love from others and from God.”

— John Templeton

74. “I grew up Presbyterian. Presbyterians thought the Methodists were wrong. Catholics thought all Protestants were wrong. The Jews thought the Christians were wrong. So, what I’m financing is humility. I want people to realize that you shouldn’t think you know it all.”

— John Templeton

75. “It’s self-centered to think that human beings, as limited as we are, can describe divinity.”

— John Templeton

76. “The correct description is that we try every day to become more humble when we talk about divinity, we try to realize how little we know and how open minded we should be. It’s self centered to think that human beings, as limited as we are, can describe divinity.”

— John Templeton

77. “The question is not is there a God, but is there anything else except God? God is everyone and each of us is a little bit.”

— John Templeton

78. “Suppose you went to your priest and asked for help; he would refer you to the Bible. But if you went the next day to your medical doctor and he referred you to the book of Hippocrates, which was written at about the same time as the Bible, you would think that was old-fashioned.”

— John Templeton

79. “Let’s worship Divinity, but understand the divinity we worship is beyond our comprehension.”

— John Templeton

80. “A doctor today would never prescribe the treatments my grandfather used in the Confederate Army, but a minister says pretty much the same thing today that a minister would have said back then.”

— John Templeton

81. “The idea that an individual can find God is terribly self-centered. It is like a wave thinking it can find the sea.”

— John Templeton

82. “As we begin to praise ourselves and our world, we begin to blossom in ways that are beautiful to behold.”

— John Templeton

83. “Anybody who had come up with a new concept would have been under suspicion for being out of step with the tradition or out of step with the teachings of the church.”

— John Templeton

84. “If governments encourage people to become more spiritual there will be a reduction in healthcare costs.”

— John Templeton

85. “I’m really convinced that our descendants a century or two from now will look back at us with the same pity that we have toward the people in the field of science two centuries ago.”

— John Templeton

86. “Politicians who are willing to spend too much are the ones who get reelected.”

— John Templeton

87. “The best time to invest is when you have money.”

— John Templeton

88. “The four most dangerous words in investing are: ’this time it’s different.”

— John Templeton