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. Nassim Nicholas Taleb More Quotes by Nassim Nicholas Taleb More Quotes From Nassim Nicholas Taleb The three most harmful addictions are heroin, carbohydrates, and a monthly salary. Nassim Nicholas Taleb creativityworkmotivational Doctors most commonly get mixed up between absence of evidence and evidence of abense Nassim Nicholas Taleb mixingdoctorsmedicine 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. Nassim Nicholas Taleb humorouslifefunny People are much less interested in what you are trying to show them than what you are trying to hide. Nassim Nicholas Taleb showstryingpeople 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. Nassim Nicholas Taleb guiltfeelingslong Muscles without strength, friendship without trust, opinion without risk, change without aesthetics, age without values, food without nourishment, power without fairness, facts without rigor, degrees without erudition, militarism without fortitude, progress without civilization, complication without depth, fluency without content; these are the sins to remember. Nassim Nicholas Taleb progressriskcivilization Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg didn't finish college. Too much emphasis is placed on formal education - I told my children not to worry about their grades but to enjoy learning. Nassim Nicholas Taleb collegejobschildren A Stoic is someone who transforms fear into prudence, pain into transformation, mistakes into initiation, and desire into undertaking. Nassim Nicholas Taleb painmistakedesire The fastest way to become rich is to socialize with the poor; the fastest way to become poor is to socialize with the rich. Nassim Nicholas Taleb richpoorway Those who do not think that employment is systemic slavery are either blind or employed. Nassim Nicholas Taleb employmentslaverythinking ...maximize the serendipity around you. Nassim Nicholas Taleb serendipityluck You have a real life if and only if you do not compete with anyone in any of your pursuits. Nassim Nicholas Taleb ifs-andpursuitreal Missing a train is only painful if you run after it! Likewise, not matching the idea of success others expect from you is only painful if that’s what you are seeking. Nassim Nicholas Taleb missingrunningideas By setting oneself totally free of constraints, free of thoughts, free of this debilitating activity called work, free of efforts, elements hidden in the texture of reality start staring at you; then mysteries that you never thought existed emerge in front of your eyes. Nassim Nicholas Taleb efforteyereality Only in recent history has "working hard" signaled pride rather than shame for lack of talent, finesse and, mostly, sprezzatura . Nassim Nicholas Taleb shametalentpride You find peace by coming to terms with what you don't know. Nassim Nicholas Taleb finding-peacetermpeace Karl Marx, a visionary, figured out that you can control a slave much better by convincing him he is an employee. Nassim Nicholas Taleb employeeslavevisionaries Comfort makes you weaker. We need some variability, some stressors. Not too much, but just enough. Nassim Nicholas Taleb too-muchcomfortneeds Intelligence consists in ignoring things that are irrelevant. Nassim Nicholas Taleb irrelevant It is a sign of weakness to avoid showing signs of weakness. Nassim Nicholas Taleb weakness
