Happiness, in one sense, is a function of how closely our world conforms to the infinite variety of human preference. Malcolm Gladwell More Quotes by Malcolm Gladwell More Quotes From Malcolm Gladwell The key to good decision making is not knowledge. It is understanding. We are swimming in the former. We are desperately lacking in the latter. Malcolm Gladwell swimming keys success Achievement is talent plus preparation Malcolm Gladwell achievement preparation success If you look at the careers of great entrepreneurs and you look at the moment they took their plunge, the plunge is rarely a great financial or material risk, it’s a social risk. At the moment they started their new businesses, everyone around them said ‘you’re an idiot’. Malcolm Gladwell entrepreneur risk careers Outlier are those who have been given opportunities-- -and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them. Malcolm Gladwell presence-of-mind given opportunity Starting epidemics requires concentrating resources on a few key area. The Law of the Few says that Connectors, Mavens, and Salesman are responsible for starting word-of-mouth epidemics, which means that if you are interested in starting a word-of-mouth epidemic , your resources ought to be solely concentrated on these three groups. No one else matters. Malcolm Gladwell epidemics keys mean The act of facing overwhelming odds produces greatness and beauty. Malcolm Gladwell greatness odds beauty You don't want to be first, right? You want to be second or third. You don't want to be - Facebook is not the first in social media. They're the third, right? Similarly, you know, if you look at Steve Jobs' history, he's never been first. Malcolm Gladwell media jobs looks Hard work is a prison sentence only if it does not have meaning. Malcolm Gladwell passion hard-work success When people in authority want the rest of us to behave, it matters-first and foremost-how they behave. Malcolm Gladwell matter want people Courage is what you earn when you've been through the tough times and you discover they aren't so tough after all. Malcolm Gladwell goliath tough-times tough The difference isn't resources, it's attitude. Malcolm Gladwell resources differences attitude The particular skill that allows you to talk your way out of a murder rap, or convince your professor to move you from the morning to the afternoon section, is what the psychologist Robert Sternberg calls "practical intelligence." To Sternberg, practical intelligence includes things like "knowing what to say to whom, knowing when to say it, and knowing how to say it for for maximum effect. Malcolm Gladwell rap morning moving Good writing does not succeed or fail on the strength of its ability to persuade. It succeeds or fails on the strength of its ability to engage you, to make you think, to give you a glimpse into someone else's head. Malcolm Gladwell communication success writing Achievement is talent plus preparation. The problem with this view is that the closer psychologists look at the careers of the gifted, the smaller the role innate talent seems to play and the bigger the role preparation seems to play. Malcolm Gladwell careers views play The people at the top don't work just harder or even much harder than everyone else. They work much, much harder. Malcolm Gladwell outliers basketball people When you're an underdog, you're forced to try things you would never otherwise have attempted. Malcolm Gladwell underdog trying People who bring transformative change have courage, know how to re-frame the problem and have a sense of urgency. Malcolm Gladwell growth problem people The values of the world we inhabit and the people we surround ourselves with have a profound effect on who we are. Malcolm Gladwell profound people world We have, as human beings, a storytelling problem. We're a bit too quick to come up with explanations for things we don't really have an explanation for. Malcolm Gladwell storytelling problem success No one who can rise before dawn three hundred sixty days a year fails to make his family rich. Malcolm Gladwell business success years