The Psychology of Speculation by Henry Howard Harper

Retired business men suffering from _ennui_, have often had recourse to / the stock market as a means of stimulating their emotions and expanding / their fortunes; with the result, in the first of these purposes they / have usually succeeded beyond their expectations, while in the second / they have met with uncharted obstacles. Some years ago when many of / the great trusts were in process of formation a well known Pittsburgh / magnate sold out his business to the United States Steel Corporation / and later bought a home in New York and turned his attention to / stock speculation. After plunging into a boiling market and buying / thousands of shares at top prices, the trend eventually changed and he / found himself on the crest of a tobogganing market with more than a / hundred thousand shares of speculative stocks. At length when the pace / threatened both his fortune and his peace of mind, in a fit of disgust / he dumped his holdings overboard and proceeded to damn the market, the / broker and everything else, including himself for being such an unlucky / simpleton.

"My dear Mr. Blank," said his broker, "you are possibly quite justified / in all your abuse, except that of yourself, to whom you really should / apologize, since you do yourself a great injustice. You have had six / months' experience in this game at an expense of a little less than / two millions of dollars, whereas at the pace you began you were due to / lose at least five times that amount but for your rare judgment and / cool-headedness."