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Quotes from The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms — Nassim Nicholas Taleb

born 1960 Lebanon

← All quotes by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

66 quotes

The book is the only medium left that hasn’t been corrupted by the profane.

The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

The difference between slaves in Roman and Ottoman days and today’s employees is that slaves did not need to flatter their boss.

The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

Only in recent history has “working hard” signaled pride rather than shame for lack of talent, finesse and, mostly, sprezzatura.

The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

Greatness starts with the replacement of hatred with polite disdain.

The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

The best test of whether someone is extremely stupid (or extremely wise) is whether financial and political news makes sense to him.

The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

Modernity needs to understand that being rich and becoming rich are not mathematically, personally, socially, and ethically the same thing.

The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

What they call “play” (gym, travel, sports) looks like work.

The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

Wit seduces by signaling intelligence without nerdiness.

The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

To become a philosopher, start by walking very slowly.

The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

We are robust when errors in the representation of the unknown and understanding of random effects do not lead to adverse outcomes —fragile otherwise.

The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

It’s harder to say no when you really mean it.

The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

Don't talk about "progress" in terms of longevity, safety, or comfort before comparing zoo animals to those in the wilderness.

The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

The test of the originality for an idea is not the absence of one single predecessor but the presence of multiple but incompatible ones.

The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

Saying “the mathematics of uncertainty” is like saying “the chastity of sex”—what is mathematized is no longer uncertain, and vice versa.

The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

People used to wear ordinary clothes weekdays, and formal attire on Sunday. Today it is the exact reverse.

The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

When we want to do something while unconsciously certain to fail, we seek advice so we can blame someone else for the failure.

The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

A competitive athlete is painful to look at; trying hard to become an animal rather than a man, he will never be as fast as a cheetah or as strong as an ox.

The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

We learn the most from fools ... yet we pay them back with the worst ingratitude.

The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

Economics cannot digest the idea that the collective (and the aggregate) are disproportionately less predictable than individuals.

The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

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

The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Nassim Nicholas Taleb (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.