Nassim Taleb on Decision Making Quotes

"A man is honorable in proportion to the personal risks he takes for his opinion."

"If you see fraud and do not say fraud, you are a fraud."

"Difficulty is what wakes up the genius."

"The three most harmful addictions are heroin, carbohydrates, and a monthly salary."

"If you take risks and face your fate with dignity, there is nothing you can do that makes you small; if you don't take risks, there is nothing you can do that makes you grand."

"He who has a why to live can bear almost any how."

"The logic of worldly success rests on a fallacy: the successful believe that their success is due to their qualities."

"My definition of a loser is someone who, after making a mistake, doesn't introspect, doesn't exploit it, feels embarrassed and defensive rather than enriched with a new piece of information."

"It is much easier to sell ‘Look how I cured you’ than ‘Look how I helped you avoid getting sick.’"

"To be a philosopher is to know through via negativa."

"What is fragile should break early while it's still small."

"We favor the visible, the embedded, the personal, the narrated, and the tangible; we scorn the abstract."

"Knowledge is reached by any other means than a textbook."

"Probability is not about the odds, but about the belief in the existence of an alternative outcome."

"The first step toward wisdom is the realization that you can't predict the future."

"You can afford to be wrong if you have optionality."

"Skin in the game keeps human hubris in check."

"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."

"The central illusion in life is that randomness is a risky thing, that it is a bad thing, and that eliminating it would be a good thing."

"Those who do not take risks should never be involved in making decisions."

"Sunk costs are for those who don't understand optionality."

"If you have a 'why' to live, you can endure any 'how'."

"Rationality is not what has 'reason' behind it, but what helps you survive and avoid ruin."

"We are much better at doing than at understanding."

"Success is becoming in your own eyes what you are in the eyes of others."

"Never listen to a left-brain person for advice on anything that involves uncertainty."

"It is much more important to be right about the magnitude of the consequences than the frequency of the event."

"Modernity is the replacement of expectations of excellence with expectations of efficiency."

"I want to live happily in a world I don't understand."

"Hard work is only for those who lack the imagination to find a better way."

"Don't tell me what you think, tell me what you have in your portfolio."

"Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better."

"You will never fully know someone until you confront them with a choice that involves a loss to them."