It is those who are successful, in other words, who are most likely to be given the kinds of special opportunities that lead to further success.

The 10,000hr rule is a definite key in success

The values of the world we inhabit and the people we surround ourselves with have a profound effect on who we are.

A book, I was taught long ago in English class, is a living and breathing document that grows richer with each new reading.

We learn by example and by direct experience because there are real limits to the adequacy of verbal instruction.

There is a simple way to package information that, under the right circumstances, can make it irresistible. All you have to do is find it.

Success is a function of persistence and doggedness and the willingness to work hard for twenty-two minutes to make sense of something that most people would give up on after thirty seconds.

It wasn't an excuse. It was a fact. He'd had to make his way alone, and no one—not rock stars, not professional athletes, not software billionaires, and not even geniuses — ever makes it alone.

Arousal leaves us mind-blind.

We need to look at the subtle, the hidden, and the unspoken.

Giants are not what we think they are. The same qualities that appear to give them strength are often the sources of great weakness.

That is the paradox of the epidemic: that in order to create one contagious movement, you often have to create many small movements first.

Success is not a random act. It arises out of a predictable and powerful set of circumstances and opportunities.

There are exceptional people out there who are capable of starting epidemics. All you have to do is find them.

My earliest memories of my father are of seeing him work at his desk and realizing that he was happy. I did not know it then, but that was one of the most precious gifts a father can give his child.

Hard work is only a prison sentence when you lack motivation

There can be as much value in the blink of an eye as in months of rational analysis.

When we become expert in something, our tastes grow more esoteric and complex.

Our first impressions are generated by our experiences and our environment, which means that we can change our first impressions . . . by changing the experiences that comprise those impressions.

If you want to bring a fundamental change in people's belief and behavior...you need to create a community around them, where those new beliefs can be practiced and expressed and nurtured.

We overlook just how large a role we all play--and by 'we' I mean society--in determining who makes it and who doesn't.

Hard work is a prison sentence only if it does not have meaning. Once it does, it becomes the kind of thing that makes you grab your wife around the waist and dance a jig. (150)

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

Emotion is contagious.