785 Quotes by Malcolm Gladwell

We cling to the idea that success is a simple function of individual merit and that the world in which we all grow up and the rules we choose to write as a society don't matter at all.

Clear writing is universal. People talk about writing down to an audience or writing up to an audience; I think that's nonsense. If you write in a way that is clear, transparent, and elegant, it will reach everyone.

What happens when two people talk? That is really the basic question here, because, that's the basic context in which all persuasion takes place.

our world requires that decisions be sourced and footnoted, and if we say how we feel, we must also be prepared to elaborate on why we feel that way...We need to respect the fact that it is possible to know without knowing why we know and accept that - sometimes - we're better off that way.

If you think success is about so many more things and is so much more arbitrary, then you can be much more open to the idea that you can be Ben Fountain and publish your great book at forty-nine.

Choking is about thinking too much. Panic is about thinking too little. Choking is about loss of instinct. Panic is reversion to instinct. They may look the same, but they are worlds apart.

The Law of the Few,... says that one critical factor in epidemics is the nature of the messenger.

If you don't contradict yourself on a regular basis, then you're not thinking.

As human beings, we always expect everyday change to happen slowly and steadily, and for there to be some relationship between cause and effect.