Writing is sacred, other activities are profane, and I don’t want them to corrupt my writing. – Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Individuals should think about the worst-case scenarios and plan for them. The world will be crazier than you think it will be. Put money away, and then you can live with much more freedom. – Nassim Nicholas Taleb
The American people will eventually get hurt by this accumulated deficit. That’s the problem. We have too much deficit. We have to find a solution. – Nassim Nicholas Taleb
The mortgage crisis is a clear instance of consumers who needed protection. There was predatory lending to people who didn’t know what they were doing. – Nassim Nicholas Taleb
I am happy everywhere except in places where I see glitz and rich farts. I am happiest in Brooklyn, where the concentration of rich farts is minimal. – Nassim Nicholas Taleb
If I ask you to write down the last 4 digits of your social security number, and then take you out to lunch and ask you how many dentists there are in Manhattan, there’s going to be a high correlation between those two numbers. What happens is that the number psychologically makes you feel confident. – Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Deficits are like putting dynamite in the hands of children. They can get out of control very quickly. – Nassim Nicholas Taleb
I no longer care about the financial system. I gave them my roadmap. OK? Thanks, bye. I’ve no idea what’s going on. I’m disconnected. I’m totally disengaged. – Nassim Nicholas Taleb
You are rich if and only if money you refuse tastes better than money you accept. – Nassim Nicholas Taleb
If you are in banking and lending, surprise outcomes are likely to be negative for you. – Nassim Nicholas Taleb
In the United States, large corporations control some members of Congress. All this does is delay the corporation’s funeral at our expense. – Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Success is about honour, feeling morally calibrated, absence of shame, not what some newspaper defines from an external metric. – Nassim Nicholas Taleb
When you ask people, ‘What’s the opposite of fragile?,’ they tend to say robust, resilient, adaptable, solid, strong. That’s not it. The opposite of fragile is something that gains from disorder. – Nassim Nicholas Taleb
I drive a hybrid, moving into an electric car. I only drink tap water, never consume food that’s travelled. – Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Globalization has created this interlocking fragility. At no time in the history of the universe has the cancellation of a Christmas order in New York meant layoffs in China. – Nassim Nicholas Taleb
I lift heavy weights and sprint, but I am so bad at it that I develop severe injuries. – Nassim Nicholas Taleb