David Swensen Quotes

#1. The true depth of understanding and maturity as a practitioner is how we apply what we've learned to our lives.

David F. Swensen

#2. You can't move forward while staring out the rear view mirror

Senica Evans

#3. I've worked many jobs throughout my life, which has ultimately enhanced my appreciation for the opportunity to teach yoga and share something so positive.

David F. Swensen

#4. I think nobody is in a position to react to these big macro-issues. Where is the dollar going to be or what is G.D.P. growth going to be in China? For every smart person on one side of the question, there is another smart person on the other side.

David F. Swensen

#5. Most active mutual funds are more interested in collecting fees than in boosting returns for investors.

David F. Swensen

#6. That's Mama, divorces a lunatic and marries a gigolo.

Dashiell Hammett

#7. Jacob was a gift from the gods.

Stephenie Meyer

#8. I challenge you, to go to any school and open 50 lunchboxes, and I guarantee you there will be one or two cans of Red Bull, there'll be cold McDonald's and jam sandwiches with several cakes.

Jamie Oliver

#9. That which works is authentic. It's a practical truth. What really matters is that we find benefit, regardless of whether it's an ancient traditional approach or some new version, popular or obscure.

David F. Swensen

#10. Love is a solid foundation upon which to build your new life together.

T.A. Chase

#11. Unless an investor has access to 'incredibly high-qualified professionals,' they should be 100 percent passive - that includes almost all individual investors and most institutional investors.

David F. Swensen

#12. I believe that the greatest teachers create thinking students.

David F. Swensen

#13. Practicing yoga is a constant evolution. The Ashtanga system can appear very rigid, with its predetermined sequences, but actually there's great freedom within its structure. From the repetition, we learn to find depth in the minutiae of the actions and the wonder of breath and prana.

David F. Swensen

#14. I've always viewed high-frequency trading as a tax on the rest of us.

David F. Swensen

#15. A minuscule 4 percent of funds produce market-beating after-tax results with a scant 0.6 percent (annual) margin of gain. The 96 percent of funds that fail to meet or beat the Vanguard 500 Index Fund lose by a wealth-destroying margin of 4.8 percent per annum.

David F. Swensen

#16. Eternity is not an everlasting flux of time, but time is as a short parenthesis in a long period.

John Donne

#17. you understand much more about the value of a marriage when you've lost it,

Gerald Clarke

#18. I encourage students to check out different styles of yoga and different teachers even within one system. Seek the teacher that inspires you, and practice the yoga that makes you feel the best. You'll then find the authentic practice for your life and path.

David F. Swensen

#19. It is not the role of Congress to decide legal cases between private parties. That is why we have courts.

Jerrold Nadler

#20. Never argue with people who buy ink by the gallon ...

Tommy Lasorda

#21. The purpose of all knowledge, metaphysical as well as scientific, is to achieve what Epicurus called ataraxia, freedom from irrational fears and anxieties of all sorts - in brief, peace of mind.

Epicurus

#22. When you look at the results on an after-fee, after-tax basis over reasonably long periods of time, there's almost no chance that you end up beating the index fund.

David F. Swensen

#23. The real riches of yoga cannot be seen; they are felt and experienced from the inside out.

David F. Swensen

#24. I weave the shoes of Sorrow:
Soundless shall be the footfall light
In all men's ears of Sorrow,
Sudden and light.

William Butler Yeats

#25. A footman approached bearing a tray of sparkling wine. Lord Sheffield motioned the footman away before he could offer them a glass of champagne. "Forgive me," he murmured in Amelia's ear. "I cannot wait another moment to have you in my arms.

Erica Ridley

#26. I've tried many other styles of yoga, but nothing has ever given me the same centeredness, energy, and internal balance that I feel when practicing Ashtanga Yoga.

David F. Swensen

#27. One can never pay in gratitude: one can only pay 'in kind' somewhere else in life.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh

#28. Don't let what other people say disturb your mind. Be happy.

David F. Swensen

#29. Never underestimate the gullibility of large pools of money.

David F. Swensen

#30. I think regular Iowans are cynical of this whole idea of corporate welfare, with the biggest awards going to the most profitable companies. It doesn't make sense.

David F. Swensen

#31. A yogi is one who leaves a place a little nicer than when they arrived.

David F. Swensen

#32. My attitude about teaching has always been the same. From early on, I wanted to make yoga accessible so that anyone, regardless of ability, could experience its wonder, joy, and power. I encourage students to question, learn, and develop their own personal practice.

David F. Swensen