--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Fragility is the quality of things that…" description: "\"Fragility is the quality of things that are vulnerable to volatility.\" — Nassim Nicholas Taleb" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f63/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_fragility_fragility-is-the-quality-of-things-that_2357830.png" --- # Fragility is the quality of things that are vulnerable to… ![“Fragility is the quality of things that are vulnerable to volatility.” quote by Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f63/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_fragility_fragility-is-the-quality-of-things-that_2357830.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f63/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_fragility_fragility-is-the-quality-of-things-that_2357830.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f63/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_fragility_fragility-is-the-quality-of-things-that_2357830.png) > “Fragility is the quality of things that are vulnerable to volatility.” [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Fragility describes things that are vulnerable to volatility and change. **In simple terms:** Vulnerability to change defines fragility. Key Takeaway Build systems that resist or benefit from volatility. Themes risk volatility resilience Mood analytical cautious Type educational strategic When to use this quote - financial markets - engineering design - personal health Key Concepts complex systems antifragility uncertainty Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of your life are fragile? - How can you make them more robust? A Different Perspective Not all fragile items can be strengthened; some must be avoided. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fragility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fragility/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) [Volatility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/volatility/) ## Related quotes > [In the area of robotics and in the area of connectivity, technology is offering us things that we are vulnerable to - and we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-turkle/in-the-area-of-robotics-and-in-the-area-of-connectivity-technology-is/) [Sherry Turkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherry-turkle/) > [I found my mind has changed over the last years. Different vulnerabilities - things that I was never vulnerable to before I am now.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paolo-nutini/i-found-my-mind-has-changed-over-the-last-years-different/) [Paolo Nutini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paolo-nutini/) > [Nothing is more vital than prayer in Christian existence, and few things are more vulnerable to neglect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/nothing-is-more-vital-than-prayer-in-christian-existence-and-few/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [Is the economy something organic or is it something engineered? I think it's closer to the organic. You harm it by artificially suppressing volatility…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/is-the-economy-something-organic-or-is-it-something-engineered-i/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Switzerland is the perfect place where you have volatility at a municipal level that nothing up top - small units competing with each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/switzerland-is-the-perfect-place-where-you-have-volatility-at-a/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Political life loves some volatility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/political-life-loves-some-volatility/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Any system that is deprived of its natural volatility, with government up (unintelligible) volatile, any system becomes very fragile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/any-system-that-is-deprived-of-its-natural-volatility-with-government/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“Some things benefit from shocks; they thrive and grow when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder, and stressors and love adventure, risk, and uncertainty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/some-things-benefit-from-shocks-they-thrive-and-grow-when-exposed-to/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Never think that lack of variability is stability. Don't confuse lack of volatility with stability, ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/never-think-that-lack-of-variability-is-stability-don-t-confuse-lack/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“...my classical values make me advocate the triplet of erudition, elegance, and courage; against modernity's phoniness, nerdiness, and philistinism...many philistines reduce my ideas to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/my-classical-values-make-me-advocate-the-triplet-of-erudition/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Philosophers talk about truth and falsehood. People in life talk about payoff, exposure, and consequences (risks and rewards), hence fragility and antifragility. And sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/philosophers-talk-about-truth-and-falsehood-people-in-life-talk-about/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Globalization has created this interlocking fragility. At no time in the history of the universe has the cancellation of a Christmas order in New…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/globalization-has-created-this-interlocking-fragility-at-no-time-in/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“Under opacity and in the newfound complexity of the world, people can hide risks and hurt others, with the law incapable of catching them.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/under-opacity-and-in-the-newfound-complexity-of-the-world-people-can/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“It is the system and its fragility, not events, that must be studied—what”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/it-is-the-system-and-its-fragility-not-events-that-must-be-studied/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [If you sat with a pencil and jotted down all the decisions you've taken in the past week, or, if you could, over your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/if-you-sat-with-a-pencil-and-jotted-down-all-the-decisions-you-ve/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) ## More by Nassim Nicholas Taleb > [To become a philosopher, start by walking very slowly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/to-become-a-philosopher-start-by-walking-very-slowly/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Wittgenstein's ruler: Unless you have confidence in the ruler's reliability, if you use a ruler to measure a table you may also be using…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/wittgenstein-s-ruler-unless-you-have-confidence-in-the-ruler-s/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [In politics we face the choice between warmongering, nation-state loving, big-business agents on one hand; and risk-blind, top-down, epistemic arrogant big servants of large…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/in-politics-we-face-the-choice-between-warmongering-nation-state/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [My nightmare scenario is that the government saves Citibank once again, as well as the other banks, and business resumes as usual. Then, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/my-nightmare-scenario-is-that-the-government-saves-citibank-once/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Using, as an excuse, others' failure of common sense is in itself a failure of common sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/using-as-an-excuse-others-failure-of-common-sense-is-in-itself-a/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [You know, children philosophize more than adults - and they are critical of adults.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/you-know-children-philosophize-more-than-adults-and-they-are-critical/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“Suckers think that you cure greed with money, addiction with substances, expert problems with experts, banking with bankers, economics with economists, and debt crises…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/suckers-think-that-you-cure-greed-with-money-addiction-with/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“One needs to go out and buy a lottery ticket in order to win. Does it mean that the work involved in the trip…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/one-needs-to-go-out-and-buy-a-lottery-ticket-in-order-to-win-does-it/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Individuals should think about the worst-case scenarios and plan for them. The world will be crazier than you think it will be. Put money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/individuals-should-think-about-the-worst-case-scenarios-and-plan-for/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“If you are looking for your misplaced wallet in your living room, in a trial and error mode, you exercise rationality by not looking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/if-you-are-looking-for-your-misplaced-wallet-in-your-living-room-in-a/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“Most humans manage to squander their free time, as free time makes them dysfunctional, lazy, and unmotivated—the busier they get, the more active they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/most-humans-manage-to-squander-their-free-time-as-free-time-makes/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [We learn the most from fools ... yet we pay them back with the worst ingratitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/we-learn-the-most-from-fools-yet-we-pay-them-back-with-the-worst/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [We are victims of the post-Enlightenment view that the world functions like a sophisticated machine, to be understood like a textbook engineering problem and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/we-are-victims-of-the-post-enlightenment-view-that-the-world/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“loss of bone density and degradation of the health of the bones also causes aging, diabetes, and, for males, loss of fertility and sexual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/loss-of-bone-density-and-degradation-of-the-health-of-the-bones-also/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“It takes a huge investment in introspection to learn that the thirty or more hours spent “studying” the news last month neither had any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/it-takes-a-huge-investment-in-introspection-to-learn-that-the-thirty/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) [Explore all 635 Nassim Nicholas Taleb quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) ## More Fragility quotes > [I feel like the future is unwritten. So many of the things that we write now haven't been about educating people on the environment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/i-feel-like-the-future-is-unwritten-so-many-of-the-things-that-we/) [John Flansburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flansburgh/) > [“Two people who live their lives alone in rooms doing strange, gentle things can sometimes be together in the middle of a dangerous storm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-hunt/two-people-who-live-their-lives-alone-in-rooms-doing-strange-gentle/) [Samantha Hunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-hunt/) > [“Our limited data force a sense of historical fragility: even as I nurture interpretation, I continually run the risk of creating it in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-s-smith/our-limited-data-force-a-sense-of-historical-fragility-even-as-i/) Mark S. Smith > [“Those mornings were fragile things — like flowers blooming in the middle of a battlefield. She hadn’t realized then that the soil beneath them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-sn/those-mornings-were-fragile-things-like-flowers-blooming-in-the/) Maggie Sn > [The scariest time of my life was when I knew my Nana was dying. It was horrible, as there's nothing I could do to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikki-sanderson/the-scariest-time-of-my-life-was-when-i-knew-my-nana-was-dying-it-was/) [Nikki Sanderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikki-sanderson/) > [In 1966 Rolf Edberg wrote "This is mankind's home", "in the narrow borderland between the deathly heat beneath our feet and the coldness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margot-wallstrom/in-1966-rolf-edberg-wrote-this-is-mankind-s-home-in-the-narrow/) [Margot Wallstrom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margot-wallstrom/) > [Each person is sacred, no matter what his or her culture, religion, handicap, or fragility. Each person is created in God’s image; each one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-vanier/each-person-is-sacred-no-matter-what-his-or-her-culture-religion/) [Jean Vanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-vanier/) > [Not childhood alone, but the young man till thirty, never feels practically that he is mortal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/not-childhood-alone-but-the-young-man-till-thirty-never-feels/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Face, to me, is a metaphor of sadness. And I want to share this sadness. I'm not really interested whether it's an Indian face…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luis-gonzalez/face-to-me-is-a-metaphor-of-sadness-and-i-want-to-share-this-sadness/) [Luis Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luis-gonzalez/) > [There is a strand of self-absorption and fragility running through this generation; all too ready to cry 'victim' at the first hint of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-fox/there-is-a-strand-of-self-absorption-and-fragility-running-through/) [Claire Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-fox/) > [I am completely tied up with softness, fragility, and the problems of a feminine world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-bassman/i-am-completely-tied-up-with-softness-fragility-and-the-problems-of-a/) [Lillian Bassman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-bassman/) > [“We, like lace, make up the very fabric of society, the tapestry of togetherness that consists of holes, but also of threads that tie…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kayla-severson/we-like-lace-make-up-the-very-fabric-of-society-the-tapestry-of/) [Kayla Severson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kayla-severson/) > [What’s insidious about the fear of what others will say is that you rarely hear them say it. You imagine what they’d say. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-jarvis/what-s-insidious-about-the-fear-of-what-others-will-say-is-that-you/) [Jeff Jarvis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-jarvis/) > [“They sit here in the darkness, trusting. That the coffee will be hot and unpoisoned. That no raging madman will come in with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-groff/they-sit-here-in-the-darkness-trusting-that-the-coffee-will-be-hot/) [Lauren Groff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-groff/) > [We, as extremely complex creatures, desperately need to know this story of how the universe creates complexity and why complexity means vulnerability and fragility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-christian/we-as-extremely-complex-creatures-desperately-need-to-know-this-story/) [David Christian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-christian/) [Browse all 175 Fragility quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fragility/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Fragility is the quality of things that are vulnerable to volatility.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nassim Nicholas Taleb" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/fragility-is-the-quality-of-things-that-are-vulnerable-to-volatility/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fragility" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/fragility-is-the-quality-of-things-that-are-vulnerable-to-volatility/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f63/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_fragility_fragility-is-the-quality-of-things-that_2357830.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f63/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_fragility_fragility-is-the-quality-of-things-that_2357830.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f63/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_fragility_fragility-is-the-quality-of-things-that_2357830.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Fragility is the quality of things that are vulnerable to volatility.” — Nassim Nicholas Taleb", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Nassim Nicholas Taleb", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Fragility is the quality of things...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/fragility-is-the-quality-of-things-that-are-vulnerable-to-volatility/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/fragility-is-the-quality-of-things-that-are-vulnerable-to-volatility/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```