Outliers: The Story of Success

by Malcolm Gladwell

We are too much in awe of those who succeed and far too dismissive of those who fail.

Achievement is talent plus preparation.

Intelligence has a threshold.

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.

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

Outliers are those who have been given opportunities—and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them.