Irving Fisher

“A gambler seeks and makes risks which it is not necessary to assume, whereas the speculator is one who merely volunteers to assume those risks of business which must inevitably fall somewhere.”

“The chief evils of speculation flow from the participation of the general public, who lack the special knowledge, and enter the market in a purely gambling spirit.”

“A chief cause of crises, panics, runs on banks, etc., is that risks are not independently reckoned, but are a mere matter of imitation. A crisis is a time of general and forced liquidation.”

“A great mob of easily led investors, eagerly searching for “straight tips” which may bring instant wealth, make their mistake in common, and when the mistake is disastrous they try, en masse, to escape.”