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Malcolm Gladwell
David is a small shepherd boy from the well-known biblical story of David and Goliath. According to this story, David volunteers to fight a giant named Goliath on behalf of the Israelites. Goliath is waiting for a contender at the foot of the valley of Elah, where the Israelites and Philistines have encountered each other. To avoid unnecessary bloodshed, they decide to settle the conflict in one-on-one combat, but nobody wants to go up against Goliath because of his enormity. Nonetheless, David decides to fight because he recognizes that although Goliath is a capable warrior in hand-to-hand combat, he’s no match for a fast and clever opponent. With this in mind, David runs at Goliath and uses a sling to send a rock hurtling toward the giant’s forehead. This knocks Goliath to the ground, at which point David runs to him, picks up the giant’s sword, and cuts off his head. Gladwell uses the story of David and Goliath as the basis for his argument that sometimes disadvantages (like David’s small stature) can turn into advantages. He also suggests that David wins because he takes an alternative approach to one-on-one combat, thereby proving that it’s often beneficial to go against convention.
David Quotes in David and Goliath
The David and Goliath quotes below are all either spoken by David or refer to David. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Introduction: Goliath Quotes
Through these stories, I want to explore two ideas. The first is that much of what we consider valuable in our world arises out of these kinds of lopsided conflicts, because the act of facing overwhelming odds produces greatness and beauty. And second, that we consistently get these kinds of conflicts wrong. We misread them. We misinterpret them. Giants are not what we think they are. The same qualities that appear to give them strength are often the sources of great weakness. And the fact of being an underdog can change people in ways that we often fail to appreciate: it can open doors and create opportunities and educate and enlighten and make possible what might otherwise have seemed unthinkable. We need a better guide to facing giants […].
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This passage appears early in David and Goliath and serves as a roadmap of sorts for Gladwell’s central thesis. This thesis has two main components: that great things often arise from “lopsided conflicts” and that society frequently “misinterpret[s]” such conflicts. In other words, underdogs end up triumphing over “giants” fairly frequently, but people remain convinced that such upsets are exceedingly rare. According to Gladwell, this is an unfortunate misconception because it keeps people from recognizing the positive outcomes that can come from being at a disadvantage. To that end, he believes that being an underdog can fundamentally alter the way Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus co
On one level, the duel reveals the folly of our assumptions about power. The reason King Saul is skeptical of David’s chances is that David is small and Goliath is large. Saul thinks of power in terms of physical might. He doesn’t appreciate that power can come in other forms as well—in breaking rules, in substituting speed and surprise for strength. Saul is not alone in making this mistake.
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After recounting the biblical story of David and Goliath (in which the small shepherd boy David surprises everyone by killing the giant warrior Goliath), Gladwell examines the reasons that nobody originally thought David had a chance of slaying the hulking Goliath. Most importantly, King Saul—and, of course, Goliath himself—have a very narrow idea of what counts as power. Rather than recognizing that David’s speed and cleverness might give him an element of surprise that he can leverage to his own benefit, Saul assumes that David is powerless because he doesn’t align with the conventional image of strength. Needless to say, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetu
Chapter 1: Vivek Ranadivé Quotes
Yet the puzzle of the press is that it has never become popular. […The Fordham coach] never used the full-court press the same way again. And the UMass coach, […] who was humbled in his own gym by a bunch of street kids—did he learn from his defeat and use the press himself the next time he had a team of underdogs? He did not. Many people in the world of basketball don’t really believe in the press because it’s not perfect: it can be beaten by a well-coached team with adept ball handlers and astute passers. Even Ranadivé readily admitted as much. All an opposing team had to do to beat Redwood City was press back. […] The press was the best chance the underdog had of beating Goliath. Logically, every team that comes in as an underdog should play that way, shouldn’t they? So why don’t they?
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In this passage, Gladwell considers the fact that, although the full-court press is an incredibly successful strategy that gives underdog basketball teams the best chances of winning, people hardly ever use it. Even the coach of the Fordham Rams stopped using it after his team upset the powerhouse UMass team. Of course, this makes little sense, since it’s clear that the full-court press helps unskilled teams make up for their lack of talent. However, the unpopularity of the press says something important about the way people think about convention: most people are hesitant to embrace alternative tactics because they don’t Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non
Chapter 9: André Trocmé Quotes
But had the police asked him if he was Beguet, he had already decided to tell the truth: ‘I am not Monsieur Beguet. I am Pastor Andre Trocmé.” He didn’t care. If you are Goliath, how on earth do you defeat someone who thinks like that? You could kill him, of course. But that is simply a variant of the same approach that backfired so spectacularly for the British in Northern Ireland and for the Three Strikes campaign in California. The excessive use of force creates legitimacy problems, and force without legitimacy leads to defiance, not submission. You could kill Andre Trocmé. But in all likelihood, all that would mean is that another Andre Trocmé would rise in his place.
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Gladwell tells the story of when André Trocmé is arrested during World War II. Trocmé is carrying false identification papers which state that his name is Beguet. However, because lying goes against Trocmé’s morals, he knows he won’t be able to actually say his name is Beguet if an officer asks him outright. Accordingly, Trocmé plans to tell the truth despite the fact that he knows it will most likely get him killed or imprisoned. Luckily, he manages to slip away before this happens, but Gladwell calls attention to this dynamic to demonstrate just how fiercely committed Trocmé is to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non in
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David Character Timeline in David and Goliath
The timeline below shows where the character David appears in David and Goliath. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Introduction: Goliath
Gladwell introduces the setting of the biblical David and Goliath’s famous battle, which took place in the valley of Elah in the north...
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...the Israelites want to face the hulking Goliath. Finally, though, a small shepherd boy named David steps forth to volunteer. Looking upon him, King Saul says David can’t go because he...
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Returning to the story of David and Goliath, Gladwell explains that Goliath expects to face an opponent in hand-to-hand combat. This,...
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When he sees David quickly approaching with his staff, Goliath makes fun of him by saying, “Am I a...
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...Gladwell asserts, is an infantryman, and he believes he’s going to fight another infantryman. But David has no reason to abide by the “rituals of single combat.” As a shepherd, he...
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Calling attention to David’s tactics, Gladwell reminds readers that the young shepherd runs at Goliath—something he’s able to do...
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On the surface, Gladwell says, there’s an obvious lesson inherent to the story of David and Goliath, one that everyone understands—namely, that Goliath and King Saul have a narrow understanding...
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Gladwell points out that Goliath sees David approaching with his staff and asks why he brought “sticks”—multiple sticks—which, given that David seemingly...
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Chapter 1: Vivek Ranadivé
...to such arduous approaches. In other words, people have to be “desperate” to “play by David’s rules.” To that end, a team or group must be so bad at something that...
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