A verbal threat is the most authentic certificate of impotence.

I am happy everywhere except in places where I see glitz and rich farts. I am happiest in Brooklyn, where the concentration of rich farts is minimal.

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.

...maximize the serendipity around you.

The three most harmful addictions are heroin, carbohydrates, and a monthly salary.

Most so-called writers keep writing and writing with the hope, some day, to find something to say.

Fragility is the quality of things that are vulnerable to volatility.