The Quotation IndexThe trusted reference for quotations and the sources behind them
Authors Writer John T. Reed

John T. Reed

American author and publisher · 1946–2026

American author known for property investment guides, sports coaching manuals and critiques of investment promoters.

Lifetime
Jul 5, 1946 – Jan 31, 2026 (age 79)
Primary field
Writer
Secondary fields
Entrepreneur Journalist
External Link
John T. Reed, Author (homepage)
Tags
Property investor (1)Self-publishing (1)Youth sports coach (1)West Point (1)Harvard Business School (2)

John Theodore Reed was an American author, publisher and former property investor. He wrote practical guides to property investment, American football and baseball coaching, self-publishing and personal achievement. He also published Real Estate Investor’s Monthly and became known for scrutinising the claims of property investment promoters.

Born in Camden, New Jersey, Reed graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1968. He served as an army officer in Vietnam and later earned an MBA from Harvard Business School. His career also included work as an estate agent and property manager.

Reed began writing professionally in 1976 and operated an independent publishing business from his California home. He also coached youth and school sports. His books included Succeeding and the novel The Unelected President, published in 2016. He died at his home in Alamo, California, in January 2026.

Quotations

“When you first start to study a field, it seems like you have to memorize a zillion things. You don’t. What you need is to identify the core principles—generally three to twelve of them—that govern the field. The million things you thought you had to memorize are simply various combinations of the core principles.”

John T. Reed · Succeeding, 2003 · Primary source

“In non-bullshit endeavors, like entrepreneurship or combat, overconfidence can be extremely dangerous.”

John T. Reed · Don’t Draw Overly Firm Conclusions from Early Success or Failure, 2016 · Primary source

Selected works

Guide · 2003
Succeeding

A practical guide to choosing goals, careers and relationships that reflect individual strengths, alongside advice on money, learning and risk.

Blog post · 2016
Don’t Draw Overly Firm Conclusions from Early Success or Failure

A discussion of how early success and failure can distort self-assessment, emphasising age differences, confidence and the search for personal strengths.

Discover

Explore authors

Authors in the same fields as John T. Reed
Writer
Helen Keller American writer and activistRalph Waldo Emerson American essayist and philosopherHenry David Thoreau American writer and philosopherWilliam Blake English poet and artistErnest Hemingway American writerIan Fleming British novelist and journalistGeorge Orwell English novelist and essayistJosh Billings American humourist and lecturerGerald Heard Historian and science writer
Entrepreneur
Steve Jobs Co-founder of AppleBill Gates American Entrepreneur and PhilanthropistCharlie Munger American investor and businessmanAndrew S. Grove Former CEO of Intel CorporationA.P. Møller Danish shipping magnateBrian Armstrong Cryptocurrency entrepreneurBenjamin Franklin American statesmanJohn Carmack Software EngineerBrad Pitt American actor
Journalist
Winston Churchill British prime ministerErnest Hemingway American writerIan Fleming British novelist and journalistEleanor Roosevelt American human rights activistGeorge Orwell English novelist and essayistJosh Billings American humourist and lecturerJack London American writerGerald Heard Historian and science writerMark Twain American novelist and humourist
✓Copied