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30 colossal Malcolm Gladwell quotes that will make you laugh and think [Article]

Posted by Pascal Landshoeft

Aug 4, 2017 6:16:00 AM

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30 colossal Malcolm Gladwell quotes that will make you laugh and think 

Malcolm Gladwell is one of the people who could be considered a genius. His books deal with real world problems which he discusses in normal English language to make them accessible. He talks about tipping points, how to cure graffiti, 2-second thoughts and how many hours of dedication you actually need. Here are 30 Malcolm Gladwell quotes to make you think and laugh.

  1. A lot of what is most beautiful about the world arises from struggle.
  2. There is this tremendous body of knowledge in the world of academia where extraordinary numbers of incredibly thoughtful people have taken the time to examine on a really profound level the way we live our lives and who we are and where we've been. That brilliant learning sometimes gets trapped in academia and never sees the light of day.
  3. The paradox of endurance sports is that an athlete can never work as hard as he wants, because if he pushes himself too far, his hematocrit will fall.
  4. The fact of being an underdog changes people in ways that we often fail to appreciate. It opens doors and creates opportunities and enlightens and permits things that might otherwise have seemed unthinkable.
  5. We don't know where our first impressions come from or precisely what they mean, so we don't always appreciate their fragility.
  6. What do we tell our children? Haste makes waste. Look before you leap. Stop and think. Don't judge a book by its cover. We believe that we are always better off gathering as much information as possible and spending as much time as possible in deliberation
  7. I don't want a door bell. I don't want anyone ringing my door bell... seems to be intrusive. They can call me on their cell phones.
  8. Many people with dyslexia truly suffer, and their lives are worse off for having had that disability.
  9. The great accomplishment of Jobs's life is how effectively he put his idiosyncrasies - his petulance, his narcissism, and his rudeness - in the service of perfection.
  10. I grew up in southwestern Ontario in the heart of a Mennonite community. All my family are part of the Mennonite church.
  11. There will be statues of Bill Gates across the Third World. There's a reasonable shot that - because of his money - we will cure malaria
  12. I have profoundly mixed feelings about the Affordable Care Act. What I love about it is its impulse. It attempts to deal with this intractable problem in American health care life, which is that a significant portion of the population does not have access to quality medical care.
  13. If you are going to do something truly innovative, you have to be someone who does not value social approval. You can't need social approval to go forward. Otherwise, how would you ever do the thing that you are doing?
  14. In cross-country skiing, athletes propel themselves over distances of ten and twenty miles - a physical challenge that places intense demands on the ability of their red blood cells to deliver oxygen to their muscles.
  15. If you go to an elite school where the other students in your class are all really brilliant, you run the risk of mistakenly believing yourself to not be a good student.
  16. You don't train someone for all of those years of medical school and residency, particularly people who want to help others optimise their physical and psychological health, and then have them run a claims-processing operation for insurance companies.
  17. A runner needs not just to be skinny but - more specifically - to have skinny calves and ankles, because every extra pound carried on your extremities costs more than a pound carried on your torso. That's why shaving even a few ounces off a pair of running shoes can have a significant effect.
  18. I'm just trying to say that it should reassure us that the inevitable traumas of being human do end up producing some good. Otherwise, the human condition is overwhelmingly depressing.
  19. Rarely do we stop and consider whether the most prestigious of institutions is always in our best interest.
  20. The visionary starts with a clean sheet of paper, and re-imagines the world.
  21. When I go to my health club, and it's in the basement, you have to take the elevator down. And this drives me crazy. Why can't there be a stairway? At least make it as easy to exercise as it is to not exercise. It's in society's interest for me to take the stairs.
  22. If I was President of the United States, I'd rather be right than interesting. If I was CEO of a company, I'd rather be right than interesting. But I'm a journalist - what journalist would rather be right than interesting?
  23. The underdog winning is the romantic position.
  24. We aren't, as human beings, very good at acting in our best interest.
  25. If you think advantage lies in resources, then you think the best educational system is the one that spends the most money.
  26. The older I get, the more I understand that the only way to say valuable things is to lose your fear of being correct.
  27. All my books are optimistic!
  28. I wrote my first book when I was in my late thirties.
  29. Shallow communities are relatively easy to build.
  30. There is an important idea in psychology: The 'just world theory,' which says that it is very important for us to convince ourselves that the world is just and things happen for a reason. That there is some elemental fairness in everything, which creates the illusion of justice.

Conclusion

Malcolm shows what makes people successful. It is not deliberation, it is action. Action towards a goal that comes from the gut. There many ways of reprogramming your mind to take better steps and action towards what you actually want to achieve. His books helped me personally to understand better how I tick. Blink helped me to reorganise my kitchen to reach my diet goals. Tipping point kept me engaged when I wanted to quit. Whatever you want to achieve, if you are serious, learn from him. Here at marathon-crossfit it is all about making you run faster, lifting stronger and think deeper. Stick around and comment to further the discussion. Always happy to hear and read from you.

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Topics: Think Deeper