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

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.

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.

The assumption that anything true is knowable is the grandfather of paradoxes.

Every revolution starts with the aim to help the poor, but when the poor get it they forget who they were and become the new oppressors. The cycle goes on forever

My mother was tickled and I think kind of proud when my father got hit on my an attractive middle-aged Asian lady who hadn't noticed he was with his family. He was certainly pleased about it.

Almost anyone can be an author; the business is to collect money and fame from this state of being.

The generosity of Montanans is inspiring.

As an older person, I do feel an obligation to tell the story about what was really happening in the fifties, sixties, and seventies, as I saw it.

What we call wisdom is the result of all the wisdom of past ages.

You should never need a guy to make you feel complete.

I never can satisfy some need in me to achieve something of incredible hight. For my sake. It puzzles me deeply. And it sours my life. So there is a permanent dissatisfaction.

I think a great artist should be able to create any style, any form, anything from rock to pop to gospel to spiritual, just wonderful music where everybody can sing it.

I'm inspired by it all - the good and the not so good - because every experience is an opportunity for me to learn, grow, and become the best version of myself.