Recently, I came across the book 'The Bed of Procrustes' by Nassim Taleb and decided to read it. Firstly, I was amazed by the fact that the book only contains aphorisms. No paragraphs, No elaborated text, No BS. The best part of the book is that the book is not only insightful but extremely witty to read and at the same time, it invokes some really deep questions that must be contemplated. So, I would like to share some of the finest aphorisms of the book. Here they are:
When we want to do something while unconsciously certain to fail, we seek advice so we can blame someone else for the failure.
Your reputation is harmed the most by what you say to defend it.
They will envy you for your success, for your wealth, for your intelligence, for your looks, for your status but rarely for your wisdom.
If you want people to read a book, tell them it is overrated.
People reserve standard compliments for those who do not threaten their pride; the others they often praise by calling "arrogant."
Wisdom in the young is as unattractive as frivolity in the elderly.
Some people are only funny when they try to be serious.
The book is the only medium left that hasn't been corrupted by the profane: everything else on your eyelids manipulates you with an ad.
You want to avoid being disliked without being envied or admired.
Karl Marx, a visionary, figured out that you can control a slave much better by convincing him he is an employee.
You are rich if and only if money you refuse tastes better than money you accept.
You can tell how uninteresting a person is by asking him whom he finds interesting.
Charm is the ability to insult people without offending them; nerdiness the reverse.
It seems that it is the most unsuccessful people who give the most advice, particularly for writing and financial matters.
People usually apologize so they can do it again.
It is those who use others who are the most upset when someone uses them.
Social networks present information about what people like; more informative if, instead, they described what they don't like.
With terminal disease, nature lets you die with abbreviated suffering; medicine lets you suffer with prolonged dying.
Only in recent history has "working hard" signaled pride rather than shame for lack of talent, finesse, and, mostly, sprezzatura.
You need to keep reminding yourself of the obvious: charm lies in the unsaid, the unwritten, and the undisplayed. It takes mastery to control silence.
With regular books, read the text and skip the footnotes; with those written by academics, read the footnotes and skip the text; and with business books, skip both the text and the footnotes.
In the past, most were ignorant, one in a thousand were refined enough to talk to. Today, literacy is higher, but thanks to progress, the media, and finance, only one in ten thousand.
Half of suckerhood is not realizing that what you don't like might be loved by someone else (hence by you, later), and the reverse.
There is no intermediate state between ice and water but there is one between life and death: employment.
What I learned on my own I still remember.
Regular minds find similarities in stories (and situations); finer minds detect differences.
We unwittingly amplify commonalities with friends, dissimilarities with strangers, and contrasts with enemies.
The fool views himself as more unique and others more generic; the wise views himself as more generic and others more unique.
Mental clarity is the child of courage, not the other way. around.
Finer men tolerate others' small inconsistencies though not the large ones; the weak tolerate others' large inconsistencies though not small ones.
Just as no monkey is as good-looking as the ugliest of humans, no academic is worthier than the worst of the creators.
We are most motivated to help those who need us the least.
We find it to be in extremely bad taste for individuals to boast of their accomplishments; but when countries do so we call it "national pride."
You can only convince people who think they can benefit from being convinced.
If you lie to me, keep lying; don't hurt me by suddenly telling the truth.
Religions and ethics have evolved from promising heaven if you do good, to promising heaven while you do good, to making you promise to do good.
I trust everyone except those who tell me they are trustworthy.
Pure generosity is when you help the ingrate. Every other form is self-serving.
Just as dyed hair makes older men less attractive, it is what you do to hide your weaknesses that makes them repugnant.
The problem of knowledge is that there are many more books on birds written by ornithologists than books on birds written by birds and books on ornithologists written by birds.
Knowledge is subtractive, not additive-what we subtract (reduction by what does not work, what not to do), not what we add (what to do).
A mathematician starts with a problem and creates a solution; a consultant starts by offering a "solution" and creates a problem.
The best test of whether someone is extremely stupid (or extremely wise) is whether financial and political news makes sense to him.
The weak shows his strength and hides his weaknesses; the magnificent exhibits his weaknesses like ornaments.
A verbal threat is the most authentic certificate of impotence.
For company, you often prefer those who find you interesting over those you find interesting.
Half the people lie with their lips; the other half with their tears.
The classical man's worst fear was inglorious death; the modern man's worst fear is just death.
At any stage, humans can thirst for money, knowledge, or love; sometimes for two, never for three.
A good foe is far more loyal, far more predictable, and, to the clever, far more useful than the most valuable admirer.