Much of aging comes from a misunderstanding of the effect of comfort.
Injecting some confusion stabilizes the system.
When some systems are stuck in a dangerous impasse, randomness and only randomness can unlock them and set them free.
Daily news and sugar confuse our system in the same manner.
You are rich if and only if money you refuse tastes better than money you accept.
I drive a hybrid, moving into an electric car. I only drink tap water, never consume food that’s travelled.
I lift heavy weights and sprint, but I am so bad at it that I develop severe injuries.
Poverty is clearly one source of emotional suffering, but there are others, like loneliness.
We have this culture of financialization. People think they need to make money with their savings rather with their own business. So you end up with dentists who are more traders than dentists. A dentist should drill teeth and use whatever he does in the stock market for entertainment.
It might be useful to be able to predict war. But tension does not necessarily lead to war, but often to peace and to denouement.
Don’t ask the barber whether you need a haircut, and don’t ask an academic if what he does is relevant.
If I could predict what my day would exactly look like, I would feel a little bit dead.
Don’t aim to be perfect! Aim to be antifragile.
I don’t know anyone on Wall Street who goes to work every day thinking of anything but how to increase their bonus.
I am happy everywhere except in places where I see glitz and rich farts. I am happiest in Brooklyn, where the concentration of rich farts is minimal.
What we do today has nothing to do with capitalism or socialism. It is a crony type of system that transfers money to the coffers of bureaucrats.
A country’s assets reside in the tinkerers, the hobbyists, and the risk-takers.
A good maxim allows you to have the last word without even starting a conversation.
Alan Greenspan is unskilled; you don’t take the unskilled seriously.
All of technology, really, is about maximizing free options.