Quote

He who has never sinned is less reliable than he who has only sinned once. And someone who has made plenty of errors-though never the same error more than once-is more reliable than someone who has never made any.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Age: 64
Born: 1960
Born: September 11
Author
Economist
Essayist
Mathematician
Philosopher
Statistician
University Teacher
Writer
Nassim Nicholas Najib Taleb
Nassim Taleb
Never
Reliable
Error
Plenty
Errors
Though
Less
Someone
Made
Sinned

More quotes by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Image
There is no effective difference between guessing a variable that is not random, but for which information is partial or deficient, and a random one. In this sense, guessing (what I don't know, but what someone else may know) and predicting (what has not taken place yet) are the same thing.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Image
It's not a good idea to take a forecast from someone wearing a tie. If possible, tease people who take themselves and their knowledge too seriously.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Image
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
Image
A prophet is not someone with special visions, just someone blind to most of what others see
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Image
I want them poor and they deserve to be poor. You can't have capitalism without punishment.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Image
Don't read newspapers for the news (just for the gossip and, of course, profiles of authors). The best filter to know if the news matters is if you hear it in cafes, restaurants... or (again) parties.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Image
If I could predict what my day would exactly look like, I would feel a little bit dead.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Image
Economics make homeopath and alternative healers look empirical and scientific.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Image
For the classics philosophical insight was the product of a life of leisure for me a life of leisure is the product of philosophical insight.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Image
As countries get rich they start increasing education and the very educated people tend to not like trial and error, because they think they're obligated to use the body of knowledge they have.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Image
My nightmare scenario is that the government saves Citibank once again, as well as the other banks, and business resumes as usual. Then, the next time the system breaks, it breaks much, much bigger.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Image
The world we live in is vastly different from the world we think we live in.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Image
Things always become obvious after the fact
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Image
Never take advice from someone wearing a tie.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Image
Injecting some confusion stabilizes the system.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Image
A washing machine needs constant maintenance. It doesn't want any harm. It wants tranquility, and you need someone to - you're not going to harm it by continuously monitoring it and adjusting it.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Image
Umberto Eco is the owner of a large personal library of almost 30,000 books that he has not read. [To him] read books are far less valuable than unread ones.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Image
Forecasting by bureaucrats tends to be used for anxiety relief rather than for adequate policy making.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Image
The book is the only medium left that hasn't been corrupted by the profane.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Image
Someone who says I am busy is either declaring incompetence (and lack of control of his life) or trying to get rid of you.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb