Now here is the irony. Why are so many people attracted to trading? Because is seems like an easy way to make a lot of money. But the fact is that the people who are really successful in trading are tremendously hard workers. This dichotomy between between perception and reality as it pertains to trading success and work leads to the following paradox. You’ll grant me that no sane person would think of going into a book store, walking over to the medical books section, finding a book titled Techniques of Brain Surgery, studying it over the weekend, and then Monday morning walking into a hospital operating room believing he was ready to perform brain surgery. No sane person would think this way.
Yet how many people do you know who think there was absolutely nothing unusual about going into a book store, walking to the business book section, buying a book called How I Made $1,000,000.00 in the Stock Market Last Year, reading it over the weekend, and then Monday morning believe they can beat the market professionals at their own game.
- Jack Schwager, The Little Book of Market Wizards