Quotessence
Home / Authors / Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Nassim Nicholas Taleb Quotes

Author

Filter quotes by topic

AllIfsPeopleRiskKnowsThinkingHumansDoeNeedsErrorsShouldWantIdeasBlack SwanInformationModernityEventsLooksTryingUseAsks

Famous Nassim Nicholas Taleb Quotes

“I disagree with the followers of Marx and those of Adam Smith: the reason free markets work is because they allow people to be lucky, thanks to aggressive trial and error, not by giving rewards or "incentives" for skill.”

PeopleGivingReasonLuckySkillsErrorsRewardsTrialsThanksFollowersAggressiveDisagreeAdamFree MarketIncentivesTrial And ErrorTinkeringBlack Swan
Book:The Black Swan: Second Edition: The Impact of the Highly Improbable Fragility
Create image

“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.”

PeopleThinkingLifeHumansHomeFunnyDiesBornStudyHumorousBoxesStoresLive LifeScholarGroceriesGrocery StoresEssayistsOutside The BoxThink Outside The BoxCubicles
Book:The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms
Create image

“I suppose that the main benefit of being rich (over just being independent) is to be able to despise rich people (a good concentration of whom you find in glitzy ski resorts) without any sour grapes. It is even sweeter when these farts don't know that you are richer than they are.”

PeopleKnowsAbleRichBenefitsIndependentConcentrationDespiseJust BeingResortsRich PeopleGrapesSourFartSkisBeing RichSour Grapes
Book:Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder
Create image

“The worst side effect of wealth is the social associations it forces on its victims, as people with big houses end up socializing with other people with big houses.”

PeopleEndsBigsHouseForceSocialSidesWealthWorstEffectsVictimAssociationSide EffectsSocializingBig Houses
Book:Incerto 4-Book Bundle: Fooled by Randomness The Black Swan The Bed of Procrustes Antifragile
Create image

“The number of managers with great track records in a given market depends far more on the number of people who started in the investment business (in place of going to dental school), rather than on their ability to produce profits.”

PeopleSchoolGivenAbilityNumbersRecordsProduceDependsInvestmentInvestingTrackProfitManagersTrack RecordDental
Book:Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets
Create image

“A good rule of thumb is as follows: If the numbers come from somebody wearing a tie (Wall Street economist or analyst, industry public relations department, captive think tank academic and so on), you ought to be very skeptical. By design messages from these people are intended to move markets, move merchandise and/or move public policy and are not a comment on the state of the physical universe.”

PeopleIfsThinkingStatesMovingUniverseNumbersStreetsPolicyDesignWallIndustryOughtMessagesRelationTiesDepartmentCommentAcademicEconomistSkepticalTanksThumbsCaptivesPublic RelationsPublic PolicyAnalystsMerchandise
Author:Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Create image

“Philosophers talk about truth and falsehood. People in life talk about payoff, exposure, and consequences (risks and rewards), hence fragility and antifragility. And sometimes philosophers and thinkers and those who study conflate Truth with risks and rewards.”

PeopleSometimesStudyRiskConsequenceRewardsPhilosopherThinkerFalsehoodExposureFragilityPayoffTruth And FalsehoodRisk And Reward
Book:Incerto 4-Book Bundle: Fooled by Randomness The Black Swan The Bed of Procrustes Antifragile
Create image

“Failure saves lives. In the airline industry, every time a plane crashes the probability of the next crash is lowered by that. The Titanic saved lives because we're building bigger and bigger ships. So these people died, but we have effectively improved the safety of the system, and nothing failed in vain.”

PeopleNextBuildingFailureIndustryBiggerDiedSafetySavedShipsVainPlanesCrashProbabilityAirlineSave A LifePlane CrashesAirline Industry
Author:Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Create image

“I suspect the I.Q., SAT, and school grades are tests designed by nerds so they can get high scores in order to call each other intelligent...Smart and wise people who score low on IQ tests, or patently intellectually defective ones, like the former U.S. president George W. Bush, who score high on them (130), are testing the test and not the reverse.”

PeopleSchoolOrderPresidentWiseSmartLowsTestsIntelligentFormerSatGradesScoreSuspectsReverseTestingNerdGetting HighDefectiveWise PeoplePresident George W Bush
Author:Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Create image

“Many people keep deploring the low level of formal education in the United states (as defined by, say, math grades). Yet these fail to realize that the new comes from here and gets imitated elsewhere. And it is not thanks to universities, which obviously claim a lot more credit than their accomplishments warrant. Like Britain in the Industrial Revolution, America's asset is, simply, risk taking and the use of optionality, this remarkable ability to engage in rational forms fo trial and error, with no comparative shame in failing again, starting again, and repeating failure.”

PeopleStatesUseAmericaFormRealizingAbilityLevelsUnitedUnited StatesFailingRiskRevolutionLowsClaimsShameErrorsUniversityStartingCreditMathTrialsRationalThanksDefinedAccomplishmentBritainGradesRemarkableAssetsElsewhereFormalRisk-takingWarrantsIndustrial RevolutionTrial And ErrorFormal EducationLow Level
Book:Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder
Create image

“Scientists don't know what they are talking about when they talk about religion. Religion has nothing to do with belief, and I don't believe it has any negative impact on people's lives outside of intolerance. Why do I go to church? It's like asking, why did you marry that woman? You make up reasons, but it's probably just smell. I love the smell of candles. It's an aesthetic thing.”

PeopleKnowsBelieveReasonBeliefChurchTalkingNegativeScientistAskingImpactDon't BelieveSmellCandleAestheticIntoleranceAsking Why
Author:Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Create image