"Many financial disasters can be traced to people who thought they were hedging."

“Other people snap up the riskless profits pretty fast and bid the price of calculable risk opportunities to near their fair values. Things get a lot less crowded if you go for the incalculable risks, leaps of faith that cannot be inspected carefully before takeoff. So that is where you find extraordinary opportunities.”

“But you can't ignore dense people-they're not unarmed; they're armed differently.”

“From the lottery to raise the funds for the founding of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607 to the lottery used to pay the interest on Dutch loans to the United States during the Revolutionary War, the development of the United States was funded by gambling.”

“All exchange stimulates productive activity, whether exchange by gift, gambling, barter, or money transaction.”

“If no one gambled against the grain in good times, there would be no winners to inspire people in the bad times.”

“There is a deep, ancient connection between gambling and divination.”