“Obviously it can be a mistake to assign brilliance in proportion to wealth.”

Source: The Drunkard's Walk, Chapter 10, The Drunkard's Walk, p. 209
Context: Obviously it can be a mistake to assign brilliance in proportion to wealth. We cannot see a persons potential, only his or her results, so we often misjudge people by thinking that the results must reflect the person. The normal accident theory of life shows not that the connection between actions and rewards is random but that random influences are as important as our qualities and actions.

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Leonard Mlodinow 17
American physicist, author and screenwriter 1954

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