Modernity has replaced ethics with legalese, and the law can be gamed with a good lawyer.

To become a philosopher, start by walking very slowly.

Success is becoming in middle adulthood what you dreamed to be in late childhood.

Muscles without strength, friendship without trust, opinion without risk, change without aesthetics, age without values, food without nourishment, power without fairness, facts without rigor, degrees without erudition, militarism without fortitude, progress without civilization, complication without depth, fluency without content; these are the sins to remember.

An erudite is someone who displays less than he knows; a journalist or consultant the opposite.

The government-sponsored institution Fannie Mae, when I look at its risks, seems to be sitting on a barrel of dynamite, vulnerable to the slightest hiccup. But not to worry: their large staff of scientists deemed these events "unlikely."

Remember that you are a Black Swan.