Quite a predicament to be both evil and risk averse.
It is a sad situation to be boring without being virtuous.
It takes a lot of skills to be virtuous without being boring.
People laugh out loud and broadcast their laughter when they’re worried about the statement that they purportedly find funny. They would smile – perhaps surreptitiously -otherwise.
If your approach to mathematics is mechanical not mystical, you’re not going to go anywhere.
Be courteous and gentle, but never ever take criticism from people you wouldn’t hire.
A trader listened to the firm’s “chief” economist’s predictions about gold, then lost a bundle. The trader was asked to leave the firm. He then angrily asked him boss who was firing him: “Why do you fire me alone not the economist? He is too responsible for the loss.” The Boss: “You idiot, we are not firing you for losing money; we are firing you for listening to the economist.”

via 43 Brilliant Musings From Nassim Taleb’s Facebook Page – SFGate.