Eric Weinstein Quotes

We are collecting Quotes from Eric so we may use them for anything we want in the future.

Please:

• Add any quote you like
• Help adding sources so we know all of these are really quotes. Make sure to include a link if possible. If you're quoting from a long piece (e.g a podcast) give a timestamp, or another useful pointer in the case of long texts.
• Keep the format consistent (between quotes and between versions).

See also: Eric-isms

Quotes

• "We are now gods, but for the wisdom." (source)

• "When it's time to leave, don't wait for the bread to rise" (source)

• “Don’t be afraid to fool yourself into thinking that life is meaningful and that, against all odds, you have an important part to play in the world. If it’s all meaningless you‘ll have done no harm lying to yourself. And if by some chance this matters, you will waste less time.” (source: Twitter)

• "What I think theoretical physics has failed to do it hasn't build a portal for most people to even understand what the issues are what are the objects what is the game." (source: Joe Rogan Show #1203)

• "The fear that happens when you start swimming away from the shore that you’re not going to find a next island before your strength gives out. I think it’s very rational to be afraid of thinking for yourself because you may very easily find yourself at odds with the community on which you depend. And I think for some of us, it’s just a compulsive behavior. It’s not even necessarily the smartest evolutionary strategy. It’s just hard to do it any other way." (source: The Tim Ferriss Show Episode 131)

• Double Island rules “I) if an intelligent person is making a point that sounds stupid, begin by assuming it is counterintuitive. II) if an intelligent person is making a point that sounds obvious, begin by assuming they are saying something subtle.“ (source: twitter)

• “Every subject is much easier than the people who wish to make money teaching it would have you know" (Partial, source:)

• “My four things I care about are truth, meaning, fitness and grace" (partial, source:)

• Lex Friedman: "What do you hope your legacy is?" Eric: "i hope my legacy is accurate" (source: AI Podcast #88, 2:43:15)

Other Collections

These are some other places online that have a collection of Eric quotes. Note: this doesn't ensure they're real, and these don't qualify as a source. We still need to find where he said the the quote and add it as a source to know he did.

• GoodReads
• brainyquote
• famouspeopletoday

you can also go through the transcripts of episodes to look for good quotes.

Spec

YouTube Linking

Depending on the URL, there are two ways to add a timestamp to the video:

&t=1m30s or ?t=1m30s

Use the ampersand one if the URL includes a question mark, like if it ends in

watch?v=Sf5FfA1j590. Short URLs that are listed as youtu.be don't have a question mark, so those needs to use the second one above.

Here are two examples that jump to the same point in the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf5FfA1j590&t=1h10s

https://youtu.be/Sf5FfA1j590?t=1h10s