If you have a patient in a doctor's office who's just been told they have terminal cancer but there's this operation they could perform right now that might save their lives. ... They have a 90 percent chance of surviving the operation โ if you tell them that, they respond one way. If you tell them ... that they have a 10 percent chance of being killed by the operation, they are about three times less likely to have the operation.
Michael LewisPeople in both fields operate with beliefs and biases. To the extent you can eliminate both and replace them with data, you gain a clear advantage.
Michael LewisPeople dislike uncertainty so much that they will impose an order on it even when it doesn't exist.
Michael LewisYou want the book to be special, and they are not always going to be special, but at least you want that to be the ambition. So the only way that happens is if you are not pressing to write a book.
Michael LewisThere are several insights at the heart of the Aโs system that I think are wonderful for baseball. One, that itโs a team game. That no one player is going to make that much of a difference to your team, so for godโs sake donโt go blow a quarter of your budget on one guy.
Michael LewisThe institutions at the centre of capitalism are bigger than they've ever been, the pay is much greater, the ability of society to get its arms around it is much less. The political clout of the financial class is unbelievable. I'd say the story is darker than when I was there. When I was there it felt like a comedy - and now it feels more like a tragedy.
Michael Lewis