..... it would be interesting to find out what goes on in that moment when someone looks at you and draws all sorts of conclusions.

Good writing does not succeed or fail on the strength of its ability to persuade. It succeeds or fails on the strength of its ability to engage you, to make you think, to give you a glimpse into someone else's head.

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

Basketball is an intricate, high-speed game filled with split-second, spontaneous decisions. But that spontaneity is possible only when everyone first engages in hours of highly repetitive and structured practice--perfecting their shooting, dribbling, and passing and running plays over and over again--and agrees to play a carefully defined role on the court. This is the critical lesson of improve, too, and it is also a key to understanding a puzzle of Millennium Challenge: spontaneity isn't random.

If you are going to do something truly innovative, you have to be someone who does not value social approval. You can't need social approval to go forward. Otherwise, how would you ever do the thing that you are doing?

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

If you think advantage lies in resources, then you think the best educational system is the one that spends the most money.