If one puts an infinite number of monkeys in front of typewriters, and lets them clap away, there is a certainty that one of them will come out with an exact version of the 'Iliad.'

Realism is punishing. Probabilistic skepticism is worse.

My biggest problem with modernity may lie in the growing separation of the ethical and the legal

I don't know anyone on Wall Street who goes to work every day thinking of anything but how to increase their bonus.

Things always become obvious after the fact

Scepticism is effortful and costly. It is better to be sceptical about matters of large consequences, and be imperfect, foolish and human in the small and the aesthetic.

It's not a good idea to take a forecast from someone wearing a tie. If possible, tease people who take themselves and their knowledge too seriously.