Book · 1949
The Intelligent Investor
by Benjamin Graham
A Columbia professor teaches you to treat the stock market as a manic-depressive partner named Mr. Market, who offers you a new price every day whether you want one or not.
What does Reddit think of The Intelligent Investor?
r/investing keeps citing this book for one idea: Mr. Market, the manic depressive business partner who offers you a price every single day whether you want one or not, which the ↑126 r/personalfinance comment says is basically the whole education you need. Past that, the thread gets less sure of itself. One commenter (↑345) attributes a famous line to either Buffett or Graham and admits 'not sure' in the same sentence. Another (↑203) argues Graham's actual methods don't hold up in efficient modern markets and guesses the man himself would be indexing today, an odd place for a classic value-investing text to end up defending. r/Bogleheads treats the book more as ancestry than instruction: stay the course, don't panic-sell, the asset-allocation talk that follows Graham's name around more than his specific stock-picking rules do.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · Mr. Market, the sticky metaphor that outlives the book's specific stock-picking advice
- · Recurring uncertainty over what's actually Graham versus what's Buffett misattributed to him
- · A classic cited to argue for index funds, the opposite of active stock-picking
- · Treated as ancestry by r/Bogleheads more than as a working manual
Common praise
- + The ↑126 r/personalfinance comment says the Mr. Market metaphor alone is enough, 'you don't need to read too much else.'
- + The ↑316 comment traces the book's lineage back to Security Analysis from 1936, giving it real intellectual history instead of just calling it a classic.
- + The ↑203 comment credits Graham's thinking as the intellectual ancestor of the modern case for index funds.
Common criticism
- − Multiple commenters aren't even sure which Buffett-adjacent line comes from this book; the ↑345 comment hedges with 'may've been the intelligent investor, not sure.'
- − The ↑203 comment argues Graham's own methods don't really apply anymore because markets aren't as inefficient as they were in his era.
Who it's for
Read this for the Mr. Market allegory and you can basically stop there, since the r/personalfinance comment (↑126) argues that one idea alone will carry you. If you're already committed to indexing, expect the specific stock-picking mechanics to feel like a history lesson rather than a playbook, per the ↑203 argument that Graham himself would be buying index funds today. Don't come here for confidence about attribution, either; even people quoting Graham on r/investing aren't always sure it's actually him.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
Which Reddit comments matter for The Intelligent Investor?
The most relevant excerpts across the subreddits where this book is mentioned — opinionated, argued takes first, then top-upvoted mentions. Click through to read the full thread.
“This sort of thing is like getting hit by lightning. Imagine this: if you were around in the early 1900's, which car company would you have invested in? There were hundreds of them. Most of them looked pretty good. Even as late as the 1950's Studebaker, Nash, and American Motors would have looked …
“one of my favourite bits of advice Warren Buffet (or Benjamin Graham, may've been the intelligent investor, not sure) gave was "The later into a bull market, the more frequent and of poorer quality the IPOs get" I see Lyft and Uber going public and think "hmm, what is the quality of these compani…
“This. He was talking about **Security Analysis** from 1936. Graham himself died in 1976. Also we should know about the context of Graham's words and emphasize what "useless" is. >*“I am no longer an advocate of elaborate techniques of security analysis in order to find superior value opportunitie…
“IMO: “Time in the market” is advice for passive investors. “...fearful when others are greedy” is advice for active investors. Passive/active here in the Benjamin Graham, Intelligent Investor, sense.
“The truth is, investors like Benjamin Graham who wrote the book "The Intelligent Investor", invested at a time when markets weren't as efficient as they are now. I would be willing to bet that if Benjamin Graham was living today, he would be advocating for investors to buy index funds.
“The more time you take to DCA, the more cash drag affects your returns. If you invest all of your money at once, you are 100% exposed and your performance will mirror the stock market. The average direction of the returns of the stock market is positive, which means you miss out on gains on average…
“One up on Wall Street. But I'll have to say if you keep the manic depressive Mr Market front and forward all the time in your mind you will do well you don't need to read too much else. Sometimes he gets me though I have to admit:( Warren Buffett said his investment over the years consists of t…
“>In 'The Intelligent Investor,' Benjamin Graham recommended a 50% stocks and 50% bonds allocation for the typical retail investor. Keep in mind this book was written in 1949, when the average retirement age was almost identical to the average life expectancy (both about 67), and there was little in…
“There is no value investing formula like E = mc2. Benjamin Graham defines an intelligent investor as one, who after thorough analysis and due diligence, makes an investment that offers safety of principal and an adequate return. Unfortunately, people who haven't really understood his teachings reduc…
“Reading the holy trinity of Benjamin Graham: Intelligent Investor, Securities Analysis, The Interpretation of Financial Statements
“Warren Buffett Interpretation of Financial Statements, The Intelligent Investor and the previously mentioned Random Walk Down Wall Street are the ones I read. Full disclosure, by the time I was finished reading it seemed too much like work so I ended up just buying index funds.
“You can't use The Intelligent Investor as a source for inflation related material because it was written before the very high inflation, and subsequent taming of inflation in the 1970s and 1980s. Graham and Buffett have both publicly spoken about how the book's content on inflation hedges is wrong …
“The copy of the Intelligent Investor with the sub-commentary by Jason Zweig makes it significantly more readable imo. He explains a lot of the minute details that the book devles into and gives good context.
“The Four I recommend the most, but read all of them info you have the time and motivation. Financial Statements: Thomas R Ittelson - Good primer for learning how financial statements are constructed and getting around them. Modern Value Investing: Sven Carlin - Essentially my entire investment st…
“I**f you want to buy individual stocks, you should read:** The Intelligent Investor, by Benjamin Graham Security Analysis, by Graham and Dodd **If you want to learn why you shouldn't buy individual stocks, you should read:** A Random Walk Down Wall Street, by Burton G Malkiel Common Sense on M…
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The Intelligent Investor — frequently asked
Is The Intelligent Investor still relevant for today's stock market?+
Partly, per the ↑203 r/investing comment, which argues Graham wrote at a time when markets were less efficient than now and guesses he'd be advocating index funds if he were alive today. The book's specific value-investing techniques get treated as dated even by people citing it approvingly.
What is the Mr. Market concept in The Intelligent Investor?+
It's the allegory of the market as a manic-depressive business partner who quotes you a new price every day, whether you want one or not. The ↑126 r/personalfinance comment says keeping that image 'front and forward' is nearly all the guidance you need, ranking it above most other investing advice.
Did Warren Buffett or Benjamin Graham write the famous Intelligent Investor line about IPO quality?+
Reddit isn't sure either. The ↑345 comment attributes a line about late-bull-market IPOs to 'Warren Buffet (or Benjamin Graham, may've been the intelligent investor, not sure)' in the same breath, a fairly common mix-up given how often Buffett cites Graham directly.
Is The Intelligent Investor better than One Up On Wall Street?+
The sample doesn't pick a side directly, but the ↑126 comment cites both together, One Up On Wall Street for the framework and this book for the Mr. Market temperament check, suggesting Reddit treats them as complementary rather than competing.