Source: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010), p. 105
Quotes from book
The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms
The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms is a philosophy book by Nassim Nicholas Taleb written in the aphoristic style. It was first released on November 30, 2010 by Random House. An updated edition was released on October 26, 2016 that includes fifty percent more material than the 2010 edition. According to Taleb, the book "contrasts the classical values of courage, elegance, and erudition against the modern diseases of nerdiness, philistinism, and phoniness." The title refers to Procrustes, a figure from Greek mythology who abducted travelers and stretched or chopped their bodies to fit the length of his bed.The book is part of Taleb's five volume philosophical essay on uncertainty, titled the Incerto and covers Antifragile , The Black Swan , Fooled by Randomness ,The Bed of Procrustes , and Skin in the Game .
“The fool generalizes the particular; the nerd particularizes the general; … the wise does neither.”
Source: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010), p. 53
“A good maxim allows you to have the last word without even starting a conversation.”
Source: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010), p. 45
“You can tell how uninteresting a person is by asking him whom he finds interesting.”
Source: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010), p. 28
“Greatness starts with the replacement of hatred with polite disdain.”
Source: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010), p. 64
“Procrastination is the soul rebelling against entrapment.”
Source: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010), p. 8
“Social science means inventing a certain brand of human we can understand.”
Source: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010), p. 95
“You have a real life if and only if you do not compete with anyone in any of your pursuits.”
Source: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010), p. 39
“Intelligence consists in ignoring things that are irrelevant.”
Source: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010), p. 78
Source: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010), p. 24
“An idea starts to be interesting when you get scared of taking it to its logical conclusion.”
Source: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010), p. 3
“Mental clarity is the child of courage, not the other way around.”
Source: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010), p. 57
“Using, as an excuse, others’ failure of common sense is in itself a failure of common sense.”
Source: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010), p. 7
“Preoccupation with efficacy is the main obstacle to a poetic, elegant, robust and heroic life.”
Source: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010), p. 29
“When conflicted between two choices, take neither.”
Source: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010), p. 71
“We learn the most from fools … yet we pay them back with the worst ingratitude.”
Source: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010), p. 85
Source: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010), p. 66
Source: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010), p. 19
Source: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010), p. 22
“The book is the only medium left that hasn’t been corrupted by the profane.”
Source: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010), p. 20
