“I am never bothered by normal people; it is the bull***tter in the intellectual profession who bothers me.” – Nassim Nicholas Taleb in Skin in the Game.

‘People are brainwashed to not realize that so many “noble” pursuits (academia, service, anything where one is paid with “honors”) are zero-sum.

And wealth pursuits, outside of rent seeking, aren’t zero-sum.’

—Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

‘My experience is that money and transactions purify relations; ideas and abstract matters like “recognition” and “credit” warp them, creating an atmosphere of perpetual rivalry.’
—Nassim Nicholas Taleb in Antifragile.

“You need a story to displace a story. Metaphors and stories are far more potent (alas) than ideas; they are also easier to remember and more fun to read. If I have to go after what I call the narrative disciplines, my best tool is a narrative.”

—-Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

“When you beat up someone physically, you get exercise and stress relief; when you assault him verbally on the Internet, you just harm yourself.”
—Nassim Nicholas Taleb in The Bed of Procrustes.

“I believe that forcing researchers to eat their own cooking whenever possible solves a serious problem in science.” – Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

“Someone with a high public presence who is controversial and takes risks for his opinion is less likely to be a bullshit vendor.”

—Nassim Nicholas Taleb.