# The Bed of Procrustes

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- Authors: [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://www.bookquiver.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb)
- Language: en_GB
- Published: 2010-12-02
- Genres: Finance and the finance industry, Organizational theory and behaviour, Philosophy, Assertiveness, motivation, self-esteem and positive mental attitude

## Description

In this profound and playful book, Nassim Nicholas Taleb presents his ideas about life in the form of aphorisms, the world's earliest - and most memorable - literary form. Procrustes was a character from Greek mythology who abducted travellers and invited them to spend the night in a special bed, which they had to fit to perfection. They never did. Those who were too tall had their legs chopped off; those who were too short were stretched. Every aphorism here is about a Procrustean bed of sorts - we humans, facing the limits of our knowledge, the unseen and the unknown, resolve the tension by squeezing life and the world into crisp commoditized ideas, reductive categories, specific vocabularies and pre-packaged narratives. Only by embracing the unexpected - and accepting what we don't know - can we see the world as it really is.

## Editions

### The Bed of Procrustes

- Publisher: Penguin
- ISBN: 978-01-4198-502-2
- Pages: 176
- Published: 2016-10-27
- Language: en_GB

### The Bed of Procrustes

- Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
- ISBN: 978-08-1298-240-4
- Pages: 208
- Published: 2016-10-25
- Language: en_US

### The Bed of Procrustes

- Publisher: Penguin
- Medium: ebook
- ISBN: 978-01-4196-924-4
- Published: 2010-12-02
- Language: en_GB

## This book in other languages

- [El lecho de Procusto](https://www.bookquiver.com/nassim-taleb/es/el-lecho-de-procusto) (es_ES)
- [Prokrustowe łoże. Aforyzmy filozoficzne oraz praktyczne](https://www.bookquiver.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/pl/prokrustowe-loze-aforyzmy-filozoficzne-oraz-praktyczne) (pl_PL)
- [A cama de Procusto](https://www.bookquiver.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/pt/a-cama-de-procusto) (pt_BR)
- [Прокрустове ложе. Філософські та життєві афоризми](https://www.bookquiver.com/nassim-nikolas-taleb/uk/prokrustove-lozhe-filosofski-ta-zhyttievi-aforyzmy) (uk_UA)