At a bare minimum, understanding entails being able to detect an internal contradiction: a paradox.

Expectation is a statistical fiction, like having 2.5 children.

Samuelson, however, hedged his personal bets - by putting some of his own money in Berkshire Hathaway.

Use "entropy" and you can never lose a debate, von Neumann told Shannon - because no one really knows what "entropy" is.

The more improbable the message, the less "compressible" it is, and the more bandwidth it requires. This is Shannon's point: the essence is its improbability.

The best paradoxes raise questions about what kinds of contradictions can occur-what species of impossibilities are possible.

The best strategy is one that offers the highest compound return consistent with no risk of going broke.

The ultimate compound return rate is acutely sensitive to fat tails.

In real conversations, we are always trying to outguess each other.

The story of the Kelly system is a story of secrets - or if you prefer, a story of entropy.

A bit is worth 10,000 basis points.

without the act of imagination humanity would have perished long back

[Eddie] wondered if every criminal saw himself as the hero of his own story and if every thankless son was convinced he'd been mistreated by his father.

Nothing is cooler and more attractive than a big comeback, and that'll be me.

It feels like you're being invited into a kind of community [working with the Coen brothers].

Never judge any person by his answers or questions but by his nature of character solely.

I try to measure the amount of truth in a work rather than just looking at the generic distinction between comedy and drama.

I was the Specials' founder, main songwriter and keyboard player.

Life is so tough. I don't know how old you are, but I've seen so much in a wink. One phone call and your life is changed forever. We all know that. You better laugh at everything.

Nature, with equal mind, Sees all her sons at play, Sees man control the wind, The wind sweep man away.

Correcting it, I don't know; just shedding the light of day on it is a first major step, being one of the earliest generations not to just accept the words.