The classical man's worst fear was inglorious death; the modern man's worst fear is just death

Financial institutions have been merging into a smaller number of very large banks. Almost all banks are interrelated. So the financial ecology is swelling into gigantic, incestuous, bureaucratic banks-when one fails, they all fall. We have moved from a diversified ecology of small banks, with varied lending policies, to a more homogeneous framework of firms that all resemble one another. True, we now have fewer failures, but when they occur... I shiver at the thought.

Much of the research into humans' risk-avoidance machinery shows that it is antiquated and unfit for the modern world; it is made to counter repeatable attacks and learn from specifics. If someone narrowly escapes being eaten by a tiger in a certain cave, then he learns to avoid that cave.

true humility is when you can surprise yourself more than others; the rest is either shyness or good marketing

Probability and expectation are not the same. Its probability and probability times the pay off.

Anything organic requires some dose of variability so it can adapt all the time, and fixing things is not a good idea.

Weak men act to satisfy their needs, stronger men their duties.