Flom had the same experience...He didn't triumph over adversity. Instead, what started out as adversity ended up being an opportunity.

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.

A lot of what is most beautiful about the world arises from struggle.

Innovators have to be open. They have to be able to imagine things that others cannot and be willing to challenge their own preconceptions. They also need to be conscientious. An innovator who has brilliant ideas but lacks the discipline and persistence to carry them out is merely a dreamer ... But crucially, innovators need to be disagreeable ... They are people willing to take social risks-to do things that others might disapprove of.

You don't manage a social wrong. You should be ending it.

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

When you're an underdog, you're forced to try things you would never otherwise have attempted.