Nobody reads the disclosures that roll down your computer screen. You click 'I agree' but you don't know what you're agreeing to.
Nassim Nicholas TalebRead
The best philosophers were not academics, but had another job, so their philosophy was not corrupted by careerism.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True philosophers often retain their purity of thought by engaging in other professions.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb suggests that the most insightful philosophers are those who do not confine themselves to academic institutions, as being employed outside academia helps to keep their philosophical ideas authentic and free from the influence of career ambitions. This perspective emphasizes the importance of practical experience in developing a meaningful philosophy, as it remains anchored in real-world applications rather than abstract theories shaped by the pursuit of professional success.
Themes
PhilosophyAuthenticityCareerWisdomExperience
In practice
Example use cases
Referencing this quote while discussing the value of practical experience in educational curriculums.
More from Nassim Nicholas Taleb
All quotes βFragility is the quality of things that are vulnerable to volatility.
Nassim Nicholas TalebRead
Those who were unlucky in life in spite of their skills would eventually rise. The lucky fool might have benefited from some luck in life; over the longer run he would slowly converge to the state of a less-lucky idiot. Each one would revert to his long-term properties.
Nassim Nicholas TalebRead
Individuals should think about the worst-case scenarios and plan for them. The world will be crazier than you think it will be. Put money away, and then you can live with much more freedom.
Nassim Nicholas TalebRead
A good maxim allows you to have the last word without even starting a conversation.
Nassim Nicholas TalebRead
A Stoic is someone who transforms fear into prudence, pain into transformation, mistakes into initiation, and desire into undertaking.
Nassim Nicholas TalebRead
Similar quotes
What have we been doing all these centuries but trying to call God back to the mountain, or, failing that, raise a peep out of anything that isn't us? What is the difference between a cathedral and a physics lab? Are not they both saying: Hello? We spy on whales and on interstellar radio objects; we starve ourselves and pray till we're blue.
Annie DillardRead
I don't think you ever understand your life - not till it's finished and probably not then either. The more I live the less I seem to understand.
Sebastian FaulksRead
Belief like any other moving body follows the path of least resistance.
Samuel ButlerRead
While religious tolerance is surely better than religious war, tolerance is not without its liabilities. Our fear of provoking religious hatred has rendered us incapable of criticizing ideas that are now patently absurd and increasingly maladaptive.
Sam HarrisRead
American society [...] not only sanctions gross and unfair relations among men, but it encourages them. Now, can that be denied? No. Rivalry, competition, envy, jealousy, all that is malignant in human character is nourished by the system. Possession, money, property--on such corrupt standards as these do you people measure happiness and success.
Philip RothRead
I believe that the place where an animal dies is a sacred one. There is a need to bring ritual into the conventional slaughter plants and use as a means to shape people's behavior. It would help prevent people from becoming numbed, callous, or cruel. The ritual could be something very simple, such as a moment of silence. In addition to developing better designs and making equipment to insure the humane treatments of all animals, that would be my contribution.
Temple GrandinRead