The Black Swan — Nassim Nicholas Taleb

A condensed guide to life from the bestselling author of The Black Swan Nassim Nicholas Taleb s The Bed of Procrustes is an invaluable collection of aphorisms navigate the modern world Why are we so often unwilling to accept that life is unpredictable In this brilliant book Nassim Nicholas Taleb distils his idiosyncratic wisdom to demolish our illusions contrasting the classical values of courage elegance and erudition against modern philistinism and phoniness Only by accepting what we don t know he shows can we see the world as it really is Happily provocative blistering his observations concern superiority wealth suckerdom academia modernity technology and the all purpose ignorant they very quotable The New York Times A master philosopher The Times Taleb s crystalline nuggets of thought stand alone like esoteric poems Financial Times Opinionated and witty It showcases his wit and learning and provides ways to fillet his enemies Independent on Sunday Nassim Nicholas Taleb spends most of his time as a flâneur meditating in cafés across the planet A former trader he is currently Distinguished Professor of Risk Engineering at New York University He is the author of Fooled by Randomness and The Black Swan an international bestseller which has become an intellectual social and cultural touchstone