"You are working too hard trying to earn money trading. It doesn't work that way. You steal it. You place a bet, and renege on it when you don't like the outcome. When you do like the outcome, you say self-righteously i want some more"

This is probably the best explanation I have heard of "cutting losses and letting profits ride". It is more than just executing a stop loss. Perhaps the more important part is to enter the trade without having a clear signal i.e. without having an already running trend.