“Never assume malice by that which could be explained by incompetence.”

As a caveat, however, SBF did work at Jane Street and graduated Summa Cum Laude from MIT with a Physics degree, so maybe this quote does not apply.

Nitpick: There is no such thing as Summa Cum Laude at MIT. Rankings and GPAs are not published, so he just graduated with a physics degree, period.

Always gives me pause when I hear people say that someone graduated with honors at MIT, even when it's Tony Stark:

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/87387a75-dde7-44ec-bc87-66f4e20...

Or this guy from Why Him:

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/bbc047f6-7417-4eb3-b4fe-064f75d...

Right, which is exactly why I took that quote--which is overused by HN crowd--and changed it to fit the context. But you went and added it anyway.

I won't assume any malice on your part.

1: “Never attribute to incompetence that which can be adequately explained by greed."

2: “Never assume malice by that which could be explained by incompetence.”

1+2 = 3: “Never attribute malice to that which can be adequately by greed”

Greed can be a form of incompetence - the inability to set goals that are reachable without recklessness or imprudence.