Thread by @samuel_biyi

Personal favorite aphorisms from Nassim Taleb's "A Bed of Procrustes".

Thread!

"If someone is making an effort to ignore you, he is not ignoring you."

'Usually, what we call a “good listener” is someone with skillfully polished indifference.'

Haha.

'People reserve standard compliments for those who do not threaten their pride; the others they often praise by calling “arrogant.”'

"By praising someone for his lack of defects you are also implying his lack of virtues."

This one is talking about your faves.

"When she shouts that what you did was unforgivable, she has already started to forgive you."

Debatable, but strong.

'A government stating, “We will not stand idle in front of atrocities committed by [foreign dictator XYZ]” is
typically trying to mitigate the guilt for standing idle in front of more atrocities committed by said XYZ.'

Murica.

"For the compassionate, sorrow is more easily displaced by another sorrow than by joy."

True, but God forbid.

"It is a very powerful manipulation to let others win the small battles."

This one we often learn too late in life.

"Religion isn’t so much about telling man that there is one God as about preventing man from thinking that he is God."

In other words, religion functions to limit man.

"The opposite of success isn’t failure; it is namedropping."

Do you know who I am?

"Fortune punishes the greedy by making him poor and the very greedy by making him rich."

Effectively the difference between Yahoo boys and politicians.

"There is no clearer sign of failure than a middleaged
man boasting of his performance in college."

Sub.

"I wonder if anyone ever measured the time it takes, at a party, before a mildly successful stranger who went to Harvard makes others aware of it."

During my time at Harvard...

"Bureaucracy is a construction designed to maximize the distance between a decisionmaker and the risks of the decision."

Hence why no one ever takes the fall in Nigeria.

"It is those who use others who are the most upset when someone uses them."

"What I learned on my own I still remember."

"Your silence is only informational if you can speak skillfully."

"It is a great compliment for an honest person to be mistaken for a crook by a crook."

"We are most motivated to help those who need us the least."

Hello VCs.

"You can only convince people who think they can benefit from being convinced."

"Avoid calling heroes those who had no other choice."

Like when GEJ conceded victory?

"Pure generosity is when you help the ingrate. Every other form is self-serving."

For those who always tweet that someone (usually female) didn't say thank you.

"The problem with the idea of “learning from one’s mistakes” is that most of what people call mistakes aren’t mistakes."

They aren't mistakes if you decided them.

"Those who can’t do shouldn’t teach."

"They think that intelligence is about noticing things that are relevant (detecting patterns); in a complex world, intelligence consists in ignoring things that are irrelevant (avoiding false patterns)."

Again, VCs.

'You can be certain that the head of a corporation has a lot to worry about when he announces publicly that
“there is nothing to worry about.”'

"It is a sign of weakness to avoid showing signs of weakness."

Men.

"Those who have nothing to prove never say that they have nothing to prove."

"A verbal threat is the most authentic certificate of impotence."

I will deal with you!

"The first, and hardest, step to wisdom: avert the standard assumption that people know what they want."

"You are guaranteed a repetition when you hear the declaration “never again!”

'You can be certain that a person has the means but not the will to help you when he says “there is nothing else I can do.” And you can be certain that a person has neither means nor will to help you when he says “I am here to help."'

"You may eventually forgive and befriend someone who harmed you, never someone who bored you."

Key to understanding women.

"Humans need to complain just as they need to breathe. Never stop them; just manipulate them by controlling what they complain about and supply them with reasons to complain. They will complain but be thankful."

Don't tag the Nigerian govt on this one.

"When people call you intelligent it is almost always because they agree with you. Otherwise, they just call you arrogant."

The End!