Malcolm Gladwell Quotes

We have this myth that if you work hard, you can accomplish anything. It's not a very American thing to say, but I don't think that's true. It's true for a lot of people, but you need other things to succeed. You need luck, you need opportunity, and you need the life skills to recognize what an opportunity is.

I'm a real common sense guy who caught a lot of good breaks and who has been very, very fortunate.

If you were a Rockefeller, wouldn’t you be?.

Whatever we do, whatever our backgrounds, we've all had some kind of advantage somewhere along the way. Some break that might have gone to someone else. Some edge or inside track we couldn't have counted on.

The advantage of riches remains with him who procured them, not with the heir.

Hard work. Well, that=s all right for people who don=t know how to do anything else. It=s all right for people who aren=t lucky. But once you==re lucky, you don=t have to work for other people. You make them work for you.

There must always be some advantage on one side or the other, and it is better that advantage should be had by talents than by chance.

To build a better world we need to replace the patchwork of lucky breaks and arbitrary advantages today that determine success--the fortunate birth dates and the happy accidents of history--with a society that provides opportunities for all.

I am fortunate enough to find opportunities that have a lot of presence.

It's been a great advantage and a privilege to have the Tagore surname. Wherever you go, you are recognised.

It's crazy, it really is, to just be fortunate enough to continue to be in positions to win, to be playing well, to be healthy.

No magic wands have been waved in my direction; I didn't win some kind of lottery to land a spot at one of the biggest clubs in the world.

There's not enough opportunity, and I feel like you can't control where you're born or where you're brought up.

We may have been born on third base, but we worked like we were starting from home plate. You know: batter up.

Look, I'm not saying you can't make it if you grew up from a wealthy situation. I mean, a ton of people have.

The world doesn't reward talent, it mostly rewards those who are connected.

I'd be the biggest hypocrite if I said I really worked very hard for my career, because it was given to me on a silver platter. I can't take any credit.

I've been lucky to be born in Spain to a good family. But some team-mates reached the same position from a tough background. Football is equal, and it doesn't matter where you come from.

I've worked hard throughout my entire life, but I don't think all the hard work could have produced the same results without all the genetics I was given.

I'm not going to deny that knowing someone in high places can sometimes get the job done. That's the name of the game. A son or daughter of someone famous will get a break. But once they're in there, they're on their own.

What a lot of people don't understand is, you can't really do nothing for power - you're either born with it or you aren't.

I am a very, very lucky player, a privileged player.

I got thrust into some great things when I was really young.

George Karl's son probably wouldn't have made it to the NBA if he wasn't a coach. He would have never got the opportunity.

I have never lived off my family name.