Nassim Nicholas Taleb Quotes

“A Stoic is someone who transforms fear into prudence, pain into transformation, mistakes into initiation, and desire into undertaking.”

“Charm is the ability to insult people without offending them; nerdiness the reverse.”

“Difficulty is what wakes up the genius.”

“Half of the people lie with their lips; the other half with their tears.”

“He who has never sinned is less reliable than he who has only sinned once.”

“Heroes are heroes because they are heroic in behavior, not because they won or lost.”

“I've never met a rich nitpicker.”

“If you do something you don't like, it sort of corrupts your personality.”

“It has been more profitable for us to bind together in the wrong direction than to be alone in the right one. Those who have followed the assertive idiot rather than the introspective wise person have passed us some of their genes. This is apparent from a social pathology: psychopaths rally followers.”

“Love without sacrifice is like theft.”

“Meditation is a way to be narcissistic without hurting anyone.”

“Missing a train is only painful if you run after it! Likewise, not matching the idea of success others expect from you is only painful if that’s what you are seeking.”

“Modernity: we created youth without heroism, age without wisdom, and life without grandeur.”

“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.”

“Never take any advice from someone you didn't ask for advice.”

“Never take any financial advice from someone who has to work for a living.”

“People focus on role models; it is more effective to find anti-models - people you don't want to resemble when you grow up.”

“The best researcher is the one who hates academia, the best politician the one who hates politics, best bureaucrat one who hates bureaucracy.”

“The imagination of the genius vastly surpasses his intellect; the intellect of the academic vastly surpasses his imagination.”

“The only thing a business school professor can teach you is how to become a business school professor.”

“The problem of knowledge is that there are many more books on birds written by ornithologists than books on birds written by birds and books on ornithologists written by birds.”

“The problem with experts is that they do not know what they do not know.”

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

“They will envy you for your success, your wealth, for your intelligence, for your looks, for your status - but rarely for your wisdom.”

“To bankrupt a fool, give him information.”

“We tend to use knowledge as therapy.”

“What I learned on my own I still remember.”

“When people give you two reasons, consider the first one to be bogus.”

“When you beat up someone physically, you get exercise and stress relief; when you assault him verbally on the Internet, you just harm yourself.”

“When you develop your opinions on the basis of weak evidence, you will have difficulty interpreting subsequent information that contradicts these opinions, even if this new information is obviously more accurate.”

“Wit seduces by signaling intelligence without nerdiness.”

“You may never know what type of person someone is unless they are given opportunities to violate moral or ethical codes.”