Book

The Intelligent Investor

Benjamin Graham

First published 1949 · Revised edition 1973

Topic
  • Value Investing
  • Investing Classics
Level
  • 200 — Intermediate
Type
  • Book

Summary

The Intelligent Investor is the foundational text on value investing. Graham draws a clear line between investing and speculation, arguing that a true investor is defined not by the securities they buy but by the discipline and temperament they bring to the analysis. The core concept — margin of safety — holds that an investor should pay materially less than a security's intrinsic value, building in a cushion against error and misfortune.

The book distinguishes between the "defensive" investor, who seeks safety and freedom from effort, and the "enterprising" investor, who is willing to devote time and skill in exchange for better expected returns. Graham's allegory of Mr. Market — the moody, irrational business partner who offers to buy or sell at wildly varying prices each day — remains one of the most useful mental models in finance.

Warren Buffett, who studied under Graham at Columbia, called it "by far the best book on investing ever written." The 1973 revised edition with commentary by Jason Zweig is the most widely read version today.

Why It Is in the Library

The Paper Tiger investment framework draws on Graham's principle of margin of safety and his distinction between price and value. Understanding the difference between an investor's temperament and a speculator's temperament is prerequisite reading for interpreting the analysis and commentary you will find throughout this publication.

External References

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