Daniel Kahneman
Nobel laureate for prospect theory and cognitive biases
Most quoted
"A general 'law of least effort' applies to cognitive as well as physical exertion. The law states that if there are several ways of achieving the same goal, people will eventually gravitate to the least demanding course of action."
— from Thinking, Fast and Slow, 2011
"The confidence we experience as we make a judgment is not a reasoned evaluation of the probability that it is right. Confidence is a feeling, which reflects the coherence of the information and the cognitive ease of processing it."
— from Thinking, Fast and Slow, 2011
"The sunk-cost fallacy is the idea that people are reluctant to abandon a strategy or course of action because they have invested heavily in it, even when it is clear that abandonment would be more beneficial."
— from Interview/Lecture
All quotes by Daniel Kahneman (309)
The most important thing is to be able to laugh at yourself.
We are not as smart as we think we are, and we are not as dumb as we think we are.
The world is not as simple as we would like it to be.
The only way to be truly happy is to accept that life is messy.
We are not as in control as we think we are.
The only way to make progress is to admit that you don't know everything.
We are not as rational as we think we are, but we are not entirely irrational either.
The world is a much more interesting place when you realize how little you know.
We are not as predictable as we think we are.
The only way to understand human behavior is to understand that it's often irrational.
The human mind is a wonderful thing, it can convince itself of almost anything.
The most important thing is to question everything.
The remembering self is a storyteller.
The experiencing self has no voice.
We think much less than we think we think.
Our minds are designed to make sense of the world, and they do so by constructing coherent stories.
We are not rational agents, but rather rationalizing agents.
The measure of a life is not its length, but its depth.
The only way to learn from experience is to be willing to be wrong.
The most important decisions in life are often made with the least amount of information.
Contemporaries of Daniel Kahneman
Other Psychologys born within 50 years of Daniel Kahneman (1934–2024).