Quotes from Malcolm Gladwell

Works were expected to be microscopically accurate, properly 'finished' and formally framed, with proper perspective and all the familiar artistic conventions

Seattle does not have bad neighborhoods; it has a handful of problematic blocks scattered throughout the city. What distinguishes those problematic blocks from the rest of the city? A jumble of factors, acting in combination. Hot spots are more likely to be on arterial roads, more likely to have vacant lots, more likely to have bus stops, more likely to have residents who don't vote, more likely to be near a public facility such as a school.

the "Truth-Default Theory," or TDT.

Esiste un modo per ricavare un trionfo da un fallimento.

We do not behave, in other words, like sober-minded scientists, slowly gathering evidence of the truth or falsity of something before reaching a conclusion. We do the opposite. We start by believing. And we

If a man works hard, the land will not be lazy.

stop believing only when our doubts and misgivings rise to the point where we can no longer explain them away.

Il successo è una funzione della perseveranza, della caparbietà e della propensione a impiegare ventidue minuti per trovare il senso a qualcosa che la maggior parte delle persone lascerebbe perdere dopo 30 secondi.

Our ignorance of the unfamiliar is what fuels our fear.

had a girl in this class," Corcoran said. "She was a horrible math student in fifth grade. She cried every Saturday when we did remedial stuff. Huge tears and tears." At the memory, Corcoran got a little emotional himself. He looked down. "She just e-mailed us a couple weeks ago. She's in college now. She's an accounting major.

if you work hard enough and assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desires.

Para Sternberg, la inteligencia práctica incluye cosas como «saber qué decir a quién, saber cuándo decirlo y saber cómo decirlo para lograr el máximo efecto».

from centuries past, as well as contemporary billionaires, such

Of the seventy-five names, an astonishing fourteen are Americans born within nine years of one another in the mid-nineteenth century. Think about that for a moment. Historians start with Cleopatra and the

A volte pensiamo che la bravura in matematica dipenda da un'attitudine innata, che si ha o non si ha. [...] La matematica si impara se si è disposti a fare dei tentativi.

For thousands of years, human beings have chosen to settle their differences by obliterating one another. And when we are not obliterating one another, we spend an enormous amount of time and attention coming up with better ways to obliterate one another the next time around. It's all a little strange, if you think about it.

Those three things — autonomy, complexity, and a connection between effort and reward — are, most people agree, the three qualities that work has to have if it is to be satisfying.

They had to appreciate the idea that the values of the world we inhabit and the people we surround ourselves with have a profound effect on who we are.

Gifted children and child prodigies seem most likely to emerge in highly supportive family conditions. In contrast, geniuses have a perverse tendency of growing up in more adverse conditions.

Hard world is a prison sentence only if it does not have meaning.

They had to look beyond the individual. They had to understand the culture he or she was a part of, and who their friends and families were, and what town their families came from. They had to appreciate the idea that the values of the world we inhabit and the people we surround ourselves with have a profound effect on who we are.

We spend a lot of time thinking about the ways that prestige and resources and belonging to elite institutions make us better off. We don't spend enough time thinking about the ways in which those kinds of material advantages limit our options. Vivek

Their world—their culture and generation and family history—gave them the greatest of opportunities.

What matters, in determining the likelihood of getting a science degree, is not just how smart you are. It's how smart you feel relative to the other people in your classroom.