Nassim Taleb Quotes

28 quotes

Lebanese-American mathematical statistician, option trader, risk analyst and author (born 1960)

“The people I go after are the false experts, those who do not accept the limits of their knowledge.”

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

on Success

"If you want to annoy a poet, explain his poetry."

on Art

"Life is about execution rather than purpose."

on Life

"Meditation is a way to be narcissistic without hurting anyone"

on Philosophy

"A prophet is not someone with special visions, just someone blind to most of what others see"

on Perception

"Wit seduces by signaling intelligence without nerdiness."

on Wisdom

"Things always become obvious after the fact"

on Truth

"A prophet is not someone who first had an idea. He is the one to first believe in it and take it to its conclusion."

on Courage

"All of technology, really, is about maximizing free options."

on Innovation

"We humans lack imagination, to the point of not even knowing what tomorrow's important things will look like."

on Imagination

"You cannot do anything with knowledge unless you know where it stops, and the costs of using it."

on Wisdom

"What America does best is produce the ability to accept failure."

on Failure

"To bankrupt a fool, give him information."

on Wisdom

"Luck is the grand equalizer."

on Truth

"Know how to rank your beliefs not according to their plausibility but by the harm they may cause."

on Ethics

"The difference between technology and slavery is that slaves are fully aware that they are not free"

on Freedom

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

on Humor

"What organized dating sites fail to understand is that the people are far more interesting in what they don't say about themselves."

on Relationships

"Those who do not think that employment is systemic slavery are either blind or employed."

on Truth

"Modernity: we created youth without heroism, age without wisdom, and life without grandeur"

on Culture