In real conversations, we are always trying to outguess each other.

Samuelson, however, hedged his personal bets - by putting some of his own money in Berkshire Hathaway.

Your second ducat, like your second million, is never quite as sweet.

The best paradoxes raise questions about what kinds of contradictions can occur-what species of impossibilities are possible.

Are there any mythical beasts which aren't simple pastiches of nature? Centaurs, minotaurs, unicorns, griffons, chimeras, sphinxes, manticores, and the like don't speak well for the human imagination. None is as novel as a kangaroo or starfish.

The more improbable the message, the less "compressible" it is, and the more bandwidth it requires. This is Shannon's point: the essence is its improbability.

Shannon's most radical insight was that meaning was irrelevant.