Nassim Nicholas Taleb Quotes

The use of the Internet, the use of Twitter, the way protest movements developed... This is a different world.

The French Revolution was a kind of 21st-century moment in the heart of the 18th century - and Alex Dumas, outstanding though he was, could never have risen the way he did if not for that. The French Revolution was the American Revolution on steroids.

I am fascinated by all the new technology that creates places for us to meet in what is called cyberspace. I understand what it must have meant for the rebellions in the 19th century, especially in 1830 and 1848, when the mass circulated newspaper became so important for the spreading of information.

During the Arab Spring, I learned all sorts of things from Twitter. I wouldn't necessarily trust that information, but it gave me ideas about questions to ask. You can really learn things from the wisdom of crowds.

It no longer counts as remarkable that Egyptians organized their uprising on social media.

The American revolutionaries believed in the power of the word. But they had only word of mouth and the printing press. We have the Internet.

The notion of the Internet as a force of political and social revolution is not a new one. As far back as the early 1990s, in the early days of the World Wide Web, there were technologists and writers arguing forcefully that the Internet was destined to become the most important tool for cultural change in human history.

The “terror” of the French Revolution lasted for ten years. The terror that preceded and led to it lasted for a thousand years.

There is a hundred times more enthusiasm for this revolution in any café in Paris than there is in all the United States together.

What it takes to get people from liking and sharing and retweeting to organising is a hard and long process. Technology has really changed the game in terms of how people participate and what they decide to participate in.

Donald Trump has his Twitter account, but so do I, and so do millions and millions of Americans. So the way that we can organize around that is different than what we had in the past, and we can use that tool for good, not just for evil.

When you think about Twitter and you think what a dumb stupid throwaway technology, and then you have the Iranian elections and it actually saves the day - you can't prejudge technologies now because they have effects you may not have intended.

First, I thought Twitter was some kind of hybrid car being developed by Government Motors. Then I thought it was a new bite-size snack combining what's best of the Frito and the Cheeto. Then I found out it was me. On a laptop. At the U.S. Open. Having fun.

Technology has allowed me to reach my fans directly. Social media: it has been a complete revolution of how to interact, promote and share things.

I think there's a gigantic generation gap in terms of how people understand the Internet and how much they think technology is an important factor in social change.

I think Twitter is the future of communications and Square will be the payment network.

Twitter, Facebook are so different from where I began. It's like a fire that takes off... I'm reading everybody's Twitter.

The French Revolution is the ultimate modernist statement. Destroy everything. Don't build on the past. There is no past.

The amazing thing about technology is that people have power. We are seeing it all the time in that innocuous people you would never know are having their voices heard because of this ability and technology we have.

A revolution in itself is not a blessing. The revolution accomplished by the French people is, indeed, a wonderful event - the most striking, in my opinion, in history; but it may lead to events which will make it a mighty evil.

Like all technology, social media is neutral but is best put to work in the service of building a better world.

Technology and social media have brought power back to the people.

Twitter's been interesting. I'm kind of a tech geek, but I've never been a Facebook or Twitter guy. Surprisingly, I've really enjoyed Twitter because I get to connect with fans.

I don't tweet.

Social media is its own sort of thing: Twitter and Facebook have changed the way everyone perceives everything.