Nassim Nicholas Taleb Quotes

"Start by being warm, pleasant, & generous w/every person you meet; but if someone tries to exercise power over you, exercise power over him; & if he messes w/you, remember to keep messing w/him long after he has forgotten about it". Silver Rule of Fat Tony in

Somehow it is only when you dont care about your reputation that you tend to have a good one.

It takes five years to learn how to make money; and twenty-five to learn how to not lose it.

When I went to finance, I discovered that those who *tawk* about money were the ones who didn't have it, couldn't make it, or wanted a lot more but couldn't get it. Same problem with IQ. Those who insist on measuring IQ are ... the most stupid.

The alpha person at a gathering of "high status" persons is often, detectably, the waiter.

Mental clarity is the child of courage, not the other way around.

Difficulty is what wakes up the genius.

You will be civilized on the day you can spend a long period doing nothing, learning nothing, and improving nothing, without feeling the slightest amount of guilt.

Don't look for pleasure in convents, love in bordellos,intellect on campuses, wisdom in senates,nobility in law firms, & literature in Vegas

In the past, only some of the males, but all of the females, were able to procreate. Equality is more natural for females.

Trust those who are greedy for money a thousand times more than those who are greedy for credentials.

The problem isn't being on a salary. The problem is enjoying it.

You have family-owned businesses that have been around for 500 years. You cannot name a corporation that survives intact for even a few decades.

All rumors about a public figure are to be deemed untrue until he threatens to sue.

If powerful assholes don't find you "arrogant", it means you are doing something wrong.