The Bed of Procrustes
Nicholas Nassim Taleb
Summary
Poignant and funny aphorisms to live by
Rating: 4/5
Notes
The person you are most afraid to contradict is yourself
To bankrupt a fool, give him information
It is harder to say no when you really mean it then when you don’t
They will envy you for your success, wealth, intelligence, looks and status but rarely your wisdom
The main reason to go to school is to learn how not to think as the professor
If someone is making an effort to ignore you, he is not ignoring you
The dreams of having computers behave like humans is coming true with the transformation in a single generation of humans into computers
It is very powerful manipulation to let others win the small battle
Life is about execution rather than purpose
For life to be really fun, what you fear should line up with what you desire
You don’t become completely free by avoiding to be a slave, you also need to avoid becoming a monster
What fools call ‘wasting time’ is most often the best investment
The fastest way to become rich is to socialize with the poor, the faster way to become poor is to socialize with the rich
You are rich if and only if the money you refuse tastes better than the money you accept
Preoccupation with efficiency is the main obstacle to a poetic, noble, elegant, robust and heroic life
People tend to whisper when they say the truth and raise their voice when they lie
3 most harmful addictions are heroin, carbs and a monthly salary
The only measure of success is how much time you have to kill
The difference b/w technology and slavery is that slaves are fully aware they are not free
It is a curse to have ideas that people understand only when it’s too late
Writing is the art of repeating oneself without anyone noticing
Charm lies in the unsaid, the unwritten and the undisplayed. It takes mastery to control silence
In any subject, if you don’t feel that you know enough, you don’t know enough
The suckers trap is when you focus on what you know and what others don’t know rather than the reverse
Every human should have equality in probability (which we can control), not equality of outcome
People reveal much more about themselves while lying than when they tell the truth
Every angel is an asshole somewhere. Every asshole is an angel somewhere.
Your duty is to scream those truths that one should shout but that are merely whispered
The difference b/w magnificence and arrogance is in what one does while no one is looking
The most pain inflicted on you will come from someone who at some point in your life cared about you
Robust is when you care about the few who like your work rather than the multitude who dislike it
For a free person, the optimal/most opportunistic route b/w two points should never be the shortest one
Those who can’t do shouldn’t teach
A prophet is not someone with special visions, just someone who is blind to most of what others see
For the classics, philosophical insight was the profound of a life of leisure, for us, a life of leisure can be the product of philosophical insight
It takes a lot of intellect and confidence to accept what makes sense doesn’t make sense
The stock market in brief: participants are calmly waiting in line to be slaughtered while thinking it’s for a broadway show
Never take investment advice from someone who has to work for a living
Risk takers never complain. They do
Success isn’t being on top of a hierarchy, it’s standing outside all hierarchies
You know you have influence when people start noticing your absence more than the presence of others
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Make Something Wonderful
Steve Jobs
Summary
The life of Steve Jobs in his own words
Rating: 5/5
Notes
Make something wonderful and put it out there
‘You appear, have a chance to blaze in the sky, then you disappear’
When you’re a stranger in a place, you notice thing you don’t otherwise (Jobs after India trip)
Whenever you start with nothing, always shoot for the moon. You have nothing to lose.
You never achieve what you want without falling on your face a few times
Never be afraid to fail. You never achieve what you want without falling flat on your face a few times
We are never taught to listen to our intuitions, to develop and nurture them. But if you do pay attention to these subtle insights, you can make them come true
Creativity equals connecting previously unrelated experiences and insights others don’t see
Believe that some of what you follow with your heart will come back and make your life richer. And it will. And you will gain even firmer trust on your instincts and intuitions
Make your avocation your vocation. Make what you love your work.
The journey is the reward. The reward isn’t in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it’s in crossing the rainbow
To find A+ talent, if experienced, look at their track record and results
The world we know is a human creation and we can push it forward
The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do (read whole ad ‘here’s to the crazy ones)
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit - Aristotle
Hire people better than you are
You can’t plan to meet the people who will change your life
It’s impossible to connect the dots looking forward, but they make sense looking backwards so you have to trust the dots will somehow connect in your future
Everything around you that you call life was made up by people no smarter than you
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