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Mathematically, progress means that some new information is better than past information, not that the average of new information will supplant past information, which means that it is optimal for someone, when in doubt, to systematically reject the new idea, information, or method.

— Nassim Nicholas Taleb Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets (2001)

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Source: Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets (2001) Three: A Mathematical Meditation on History — Distilled Thinking On Your Palm Pilot — Breaking News
Work: Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets, 2001
Source quality: Source identified Names the work or year, but without an exact location.

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Much of aging comes from a misunderstanding of the effect of comfort.

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You want to be yourself, idiosyncratic; the collective (school, rules, jobs, technology) wants you generic to the point of castration.

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What fools call “wasting time” is most often the best investment.

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Progress

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Ethical man accords his profession to his beliefs, instead of according his beliefs to his profession.

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An idea starts to be interesting when you get scared of taking it to its logical conclusion.

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

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The weak shows his strength and hides his weaknesses; the magnificent exhibits his weaknesses like ornaments.

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To be completely cured of newspapers, spend a year reading the previous week’s newspapers.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Nassim Nicholas Taleb (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.