David and Goliath

David and Goliath

by

Malcolm Gladwell

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Goliath is the large, giant-like warrior from the biblical story of David and Goliath. In this tale, the warring Israelites and Philistines meet each other in the valley of Elah, where Goliath volunteers to challenge just one Israelite in hand-to-hand combat to avoid massive bloodshed. To do this, he lumbers into the valley and challenges the Israelites while an assistant carries his massive shield. Goliath is dressed in hundreds of pounds of armor, and because of his impressive stature, nobody wants to fight him. Eventually, though, a small shepherd boy named David agrees to face Goliath. When Goliath sees David approach, Goliath makes fun of him for bringing nothing but a staff, but he fails to note that David is preparing to send a projectile hurtling toward his head. The stone strikes Goliath in the forehead and knocks him to the ground, at which point David runs over, picks up Goliath’s sword, and cuts off his head. Gladwell uses this story to illustrate that conventional strengths aren’t always advantageous—after all, Goliath’s size would have most likely prevented him from quickly dodging David’s stone even if he had seen it coming. Furthermore, Gladwell posits that Goliath may have had a tumor on his pituitary gland, a condition that makes people quite large. This condition can also negatively affect vision, meaning that the very thing that made Goliath so big is what kept him from properly seeing his opponent. In turn, Gladwell argues that traditional advantages aren’t always beneficial.

Goliath Quotes in David and Goliath

The David and Goliath quotes below are all either spoken by Goliath or refer to Goliath. 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:
Advantages and Disadvantages Theme Icon
).
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 […].

Related Characters: Malcolm Gladwell (speaker), David, Goliath
Page Number: 6
Explanation and Analysis:

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.

Related Characters: Malcolm Gladwell (speaker), David, Goliath, King Saul
Page Number: 12
Explanation and Analysis:
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?

Related Characters: Malcolm Gladwell (speaker), David, Goliath, Vivek Ranadivé
Related Symbols: The Full-Court Press
Page Number: 31
Explanation and Analysis:
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.

Related Characters: Malcolm Gladwell (speaker), David, Goliath, André Trocmé, Ian Freeland
Related Symbols: The Three Strikes Law
Page Number: 273
Explanation and Analysis:
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David and Goliath PDF

Goliath Quotes in David and Goliath

The David and Goliath quotes below are all either spoken by Goliath or refer to Goliath. 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:
Advantages and Disadvantages Theme Icon
).
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 […].

Related Characters: Malcolm Gladwell (speaker), David, Goliath
Page Number: 6
Explanation and Analysis:

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.

Related Characters: Malcolm Gladwell (speaker), David, Goliath, King Saul
Page Number: 12
Explanation and Analysis:
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?

Related Characters: Malcolm Gladwell (speaker), David, Goliath, Vivek Ranadivé
Related Symbols: The Full-Court Press
Page Number: 31
Explanation and Analysis:
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.

Related Characters: Malcolm Gladwell (speaker), David, Goliath, André Trocmé, Ian Freeland
Related Symbols: The Three Strikes Law
Page Number: 273
Explanation and Analysis: