They say history doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes—and right now, the ASX is humming a very familiar tune. The kind seasoned investors know as a rare and powerful signal: opportunity.

After climbing to record highs in February, the ASX 200 has taken a sharp turn south, rattled by a mix of trade war fears, inflation concerns, and a general economic uncertainty.

But for long-term investors, this could be the moment they've been waiting for.

An opportunity awaits

We've seen this play out before. Whether it's the COVID crash of 2020 or the GFC of 2008, panic in the markets has a way of creating mispricing in quality ASX shares. The key is recognising the difference between structural problems and cyclical noise.

Analysts have been beating the same drum in recent weeks: in times like these, quality matters. Companies with strong balance sheets, consistent earnings, and sustainable competitive advantages are the ones that not only survive downturns—they thrive coming out of them.

We're talking about stocks like CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL), Goodman Group (ASX: GMG), Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG), and TechnologyOne Ltd (ASX: TNE) —companies that may not be immune to volatility but are battle-tested and built to last.

Bell Potter recently described the current volatility as a valuable window "to buy quality stocks at more reasonable valuations."

The long view with ASX shares

Let's zoom out for a moment. If you had invested $10,000 into ASX 200 in March 2020, just as COVID fears hit fever pitch, you would have almost doubled your money in the years that followed prior to the recent market selloff. And that's without trying to time the exact bottom.

Which brings us to the real takeaway: you don't need to call the bottom to come out on top. You just need to start.

Invest steadily, keep costs low (ETFs like iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX: IVV) and Betashares Global Quality Leaders ETF (ASX: QLTY) are great starting points), and stay focused on the long-term. Because while we can't predict what the market will do tomorrow, history has shown that patient investors tend to win.

Foolish takeaway

The recent market selloff might not feel good in the moment—but one day, it could be remembered as the turning point where wealth was quietly built, one quality investment at a time.