When most investors, including the pros, all agree on something, they're usually wrong.
Carl IcahnRead
When friends and acquaintances are telling you [that] you are a genius, before you accept their opinion, take a moment to remember what you always thought of their opinions in the past.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Evaluate the validity of praise by considering past assessments of those giving it.
This quote by Carl Icahn encourages self-reflection when receiving compliments or opinions from others, particularly regarding intelligence or capability. It suggests that one should assess the credibility of the praise based on their previous judgments of those providing it, promoting a more discerning approach to external validation.
Themes
WisdomSelf-ReflectionOpinionsValidationIntelligence
In practice
Example use cases
During a team meeting where your ideas are praised, you can refer to this quote to remind everyone of their past reservations about certain concepts.
More from Carl Icahn
All quotes →CEOs are paid for doing a terrible job. If the system wasn't so messed up, guys like me wouldn't make this kind of money.
Carl IcahnRead
Similar quotes
Hang that question up in your houses, "What would Jesus do?" and then think of another, "How would Jesus do it?" for what he would do, and how he would do it, may always stand as the best guide to us.
Charles SpurgeonRead
The only security lies in individual, personal honesty, The law cannot make people honest.
Albert E. BowenRead
There is no slavery but ignorance.
Robert Green IngersollRead
I'm not by nature a terribly intuitive person; I need to build a situation in which I will behave more intuitively, and that has really changed the life of my work - I found a way to trick myself into being intuitive.
Chuck CloseRead
There are times you will be given intuition, you just know something, and you can't explain it. Don't override it. Don't talk yourself out of it. That's the Creator giving you inside information.
Joel OsteenRead
None of us is perfect. There was only one perfect man who ever walked the earth, and He was the Son of God. We all have weaknesses and I guess we all make mistakes and will make mistakes in the future, but look for the virtues, the strengths, the goodness in those with whom you labor, and draw those characteristics into your own lives and make them a part of yourselves, and you will be the richer for it all the days that you live.
Gordon B. HinckleyRead