Nassim Nicholas Taleb Quotes

Quotes about:

• Intelligence consists in ignoring things that are irrelevant.

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Irrelevant

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2016). “Incerto 4-Book Bundle: Fooled by Randomness The Black Swan The Bed of Procrustes Antifragile”, p.1783, Random House

  27 Copy quote

• Don't aim to be perfect! Aim to be antifragile

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Perfect, Aim

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• You have a real life if and only if you do not compete with anyone in any of your pursuits.

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Real, Ifs And, Pursuit

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2010). “The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms”, p.40, Random House

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• The three most harmful addictions are heroin, carbohydrates, and a monthly salary.

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Motivational, Work, Creativity

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2010). “The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms”, p.39, Random House

  77 Copy quote

• The fastest way to become rich is to socialize with the poor; the fastest way to become poor is to socialize with the rich.

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Way, Rich, Poor

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2010). “The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms”, p.29, Random House

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• An ad hominem attack against an individual, not against an idea, is highly flattering. It indicates that the person does not have anything intelligent to say about your message.

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Intelligent, Ideas, Doe

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• Comfort makes you weaker. We need some variability, some stressors. Not too much, but just enough.

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Comfort, Needs, Too Much

  Source: www.pbs.org

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• If you see fraud and do not say fraud, you are a fraud.

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Fraud, Ifs

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2016). “Incerto 4-Book Bundle: Fooled by Randomness The Black Swan The Bed of Procrustes Antifragile”, p.37, Random House

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• Academia is to knowledge what prostitution is to love.

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Academia, Prostitution

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2010). “The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms”, p.8, Random House

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• They are born, put in a box; they go home to live in a box; they study by ticking boxes; they go to what is called "work" in a box, where they sit in their cubicle box; they drive to the grocery store in a box to buy food in a box; they talk about thinking "outside the box"; and when they die they are put in a box.

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Funny, Life, Humorous

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2010). “The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms”, p.31, Random House

  56 Copy quote

• Muscles without strength, friendship without trust, opinion without risk, change without aesthetics, age without values, food without nourishment, power without fairness, facts without rigor, degrees without erudition, militarism without fortitude, progress without civilization, complication without depth, fluency without content; these are the sins to remember.

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Civilization, Risk, Progress

  FaceBook post by Nassim Nicholas Taleb from Aug 11, 2014

  16 Copy quote

• Karl Marx, a visionary, figured out that you can control a slave much better by convincing him he is an employee.

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Visionaries, Slave, Employee

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2016). “Incerto 4-Book Bundle: Fooled by Randomness The Black Swan The Bed of Procrustes Antifragile”, p.1727, Random House

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• Education makes the wise slightly wiser, but it makes the fool vastly more dangerous.

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Wise, Fool, Dangerous

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2016). “Incerto 4-Book Bundle: Fooled by Randomness The Black Swan The Bed of Procrustes Antifragile”, p.1705, Random House

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• Learn to fail with pride - and do so fast and cleanly. Maximise trial and error - by mastering the error part.

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Failure, Pride, Errors

  22 Copy quote

• Only the autodidacts are free.

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2016). “Incerto 4-Book Bundle: Fooled by Randomness The Black Swan The Bed of Procrustes Antifragile”, p.326, Random House

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• The psychologist Gerd Gigerenzer has a simple heuristic. Never ask the doctor what you should do. Ask him what he would do if he were in your place. You would be surprised at the difference

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Simple, Doctors, Differences

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2012). “Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder”, p.389, Random House

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• It is a sign of weakness to avoid showing signs of weakness.

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Weakness

  FaceBook post by Nassim Nicholas Taleb from May 17, 2013

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• You don't become completely free by just avoiding being a slave; you also need to avoid becoming a master.

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Needs, Becoming, Slave

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2010). “The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms”, p.26, Random House

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• The world we live in is vastly different from the world we think we live in.

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Thinking, Different, World

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• An elephant is vastly more efficient, metabolically, than a mouse. It's the same for a megacity as opposed to a village. But an elephant can break a leg very easily, whereas you can toss a mouse out of a window and it'll be fine. Size makes you fragile.

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Break A Leg, Elephants, Growth

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• When you ask people, 'What's the opposite of fragile?,' they tend to say robust, resilient, adaptable, solid, strong. That's not it. The opposite of fragile is something that gains from disorder.

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Strong, Opposites, People

  "The Tavis Smiley Show" with Tavis Smiley, www.pbs.org. December 3, 2012.

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• People are much less interested in what you are trying to show them than what you are trying to hide.

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  People, Trying, Shows

  FaceBook post by Nassim Nicholas Taleb from Nov 11, 2013

  23 Copy quote

• You will be civilized on the day you can spend a long period doing nothing, learning nothing, and improving nothing, without feeling the slightest amount of guilt.

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Long, Feelings, Guilt

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2016). “Incerto 4-Book Bundle: Fooled by Randomness The Black Swan The Bed of Procrustes Antifragile”, p.1728, Random House

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• Weak men act to satisfy their needs, stronger men their duties.

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Men, Weak Man, Stronger

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2010). “The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms”, p.64, Random House

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• Life is a tightrope between two errors: generalizing the wrong particular and particularizing the wrong general.

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Errors, Two, Investing

  FaceBook post by Nassim Nicholas Taleb from Feb 12, 2015

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