# Quote — Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Fooled by Randomness

> [A]t any point in time, the richest traders are often the worst traders. This I will call the cross-sectional problem: At a given time... the most successful traders are likely to be those fit for the latest cycle.

- Author: [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb.md)
- Book: [Fooled by Randomness](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/fooled-by-randomness.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nassim_Nicholas_Taleb#Fooled_by_Randomness_(2001)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/fooled-by-randomness/a-t-any-point

## More from this book

> The information that a person derived some profit in the past... by itself, is neither meaningful nor relevant. We need to know the size of the population from which he came. If the initial population is 10,000 managers, I would ignore the results.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/fooled-by-randomness/the-information-that.md)

> [B]ecoming more rational, or not feeling the emotions of social slights, is not part of the human race... not with our current biology. There is no solace to be found from reasoning...

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/fooled-by-randomness/b-ecoming-more-rational.md)

> A mistake is not something to be determined after the fact, but in the light of the information until that point.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/fooled-by-randomness/a-mistake-is-not.md)