QuoteProject
Achievement is talent plus preparation. The problem with this view is that the closer psychologists look at the careers of the gifted, the smaller the role innate talent seems to play and the bigger the role preparation seems to play.
Malcolm Gladwell
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Achievement relies more on preparation than innate talent.

Malcolm Gladwell emphasizes that while talent can contribute to success, it is ultimately preparation that plays a more significant role in achieving one's goals. His perspective challenges the conventional belief that natural ability is the key to success, suggesting instead that consistent effort and dedication are critical components of accomplishment.

Themes

AchievementTalentPreparationSuccessEffort

In practice

Example use cases

In a motivational speech about career development.

More from Malcolm Gladwell

No one who can rise before dawn three hundred sixty days a year fails to make his family rich.
Malcolm GladwellRead
People are in one of two states in a relationship,” Gottman went on. “The first is what I call positive sentiment override, where positive emotion overrides irritability. It’s like a buffer. Their spouse will do something bad, and they’ll say, ‘Oh, he’s just in a crummy mood.’ Or they can be in negative sentiment override, so that even a relatively neutral thing that a partner says gets perceived as negative.
Malcolm GladwellRead
The people at the top don't work just harder or even much harder than everyone else. They work much, much harder.
Malcolm GladwellRead
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.
Malcolm GladwellRead
Hard work is a prison sentence only if it does not have meaning.
Malcolm GladwellRead
Outlier are those who have been given opportunities-- -and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them.
Malcolm GladwellRead

Similar quotes

Part of the success of Girls Who Code is that I am a hustler. When people ask what my biggest strength is, it's that I'm shameless. I will ask people for help even when I don't know them.
Reshma SaujaniRead
To become a singer requires work, work, and again, work! It need not be in any special corner of the earth; there is no one spot that will do more for you than other places. It doesn't matter so much where you are if you have intelligence and a good ear.
Enrico CarusoRead
There are millions of Americans outside Washington who are tired of stale political arguments and are moving this country forward. They believe, and I believe, that here in America, our success should depend not on accident of birth, but the strength of our work ethic and the scope of our dreams.
Barack ObamaRead
Every day, you're only as good as your last show.
Oprah WinfreyRead
I've made peace with the fact that the World Cup will not define me. Yes, it would be nice to add that to what's been a very enjoyable career, but I know it won't define me as a person or cricketer.
Ab De VilliersRead
I don't plan a career. That doesn't work for me. I just have to go with my gut.
Ralph FiennesRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.