Quotes from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Malcolm Gladwell ·  296 pages

Rating: (389.1K votes)


“The key to good decision making is not knowledge. It is understanding. We are swimming in the former. We are desperately lacking in the latter.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking


“We have, as human beings, a storytelling problem. We're a bit too quick to come up with explanations for things we don't really have an explanation for.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking


“Insight is not a lightbulb that goes off inside our heads. It is a flickering candle that can easily be snuffed out.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking


“In the act of tearing something apart, you lose its meaning.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking


“our world requires that decisions be sourced and footnoted, and if we say how we feel, we must also be prepared to elaborate on why we feel that way...We need to respect the fact that it is possible to know without knowing why we know and accept that - sometimes - we're better off that way.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking



“We live in a world that assumes that the quality of a decision is directly related to the time and effort that went into making it...We believe that we are always better off gathering as much information as possible an depending as much time as possible in deliberation. We really only trust conscious decision making. But there are moments, particularly in times of stress, when haste does not make waste, when our snap judgments and first impressions can offer a much better means of making sense of the world. The first task of Blink is to convince you of a simple fact: decisions made very quickly can be every bit as good as decisions made cautiously and deliberately.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking


“There can be as much value in the blink of an eye as in months of rational analysis.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking


“When we become expert in something, our tastes grow more esoteric and complex.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking


“Anyone who has ever scanned the bookshelves of a new girlfriend or boyfriend- or peeked inside his or her medicine cabinet- understands this implicitly; you can learn as much - or more - from one glance at a private space as you can from hours of exposure to a public face.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking


“[Research] suggests that what we think of as free will is largely an illusion: much of the time, we are simply operating on automatic pilot, and the way we think and act – and how well we think and act on the spur of the moment – are a lot more susceptible to outside influences than we realize.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking



“We learn by example and by direct experience because there are real limits to the adequacy of verbal instruction.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking


“being able to act intelligently and instinctively in the moment is possible only after a long and rigorous of education and experience”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking


“The answer is that we are not helpless in the face of our first impressions. They may bubble up from the unconscious - from behind a locked door inside of our brain - but just because something is outside of awareness doesn't mean it's outside of control.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking


“Often a sign of expertise is noticing what doesn't happen.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking


“...mediocre people find their way into positions of authority...because when it comes to even the most important positions, our selection decisions are a good deal less rational than we think.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking



“People are in one of two states in a relationship,” Gottman went on. “The first is what I call positive sentiment override, where positive emotion overrides irritability. It’s like a buffer. Their spouse will do something bad, and they’ll say, ‘Oh, he’s just in a crummy mood.’ Or they can be in negative sentiment override, so that even a relatively neutral thing that a partner says gets perceived as negative.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking


“Did they know why they knew? Not at all. But the Knew!”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking


“understanding the true nature of instinctive decision making requires us to be forgiving of those people trapped in circumstances where good judgment is imperiled.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking


“Our world requires that decisions be sourced and footnoted, and if we say how we feel, we must also be prepared to elaborate on why we feel that way. I think that approach is a mistake, and if we are to learn to improve the quality of the decisions we make, we need to accept the mysterious nature of our snap judgements. We need to respect the fact that it is possible to know without knowing why we know and accept that — sometimes — we’re better off that way.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking


“The entire principle of a blind taste test was ridiculous. They shouldn't have cared so much that they were losing blind taste tests with old Coke, and we shouldn't at all be surprised that Pepsi's dominance in blind taste tests never translated to much in the real world. Why not? Because in the real world, no one ever drinks Coca-Cola blind.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking



“extreme visual clarity, tunnel vision, diminished sound, and the sense that time is slowing down. this is how the human body reacts to extreme stress.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking


“our unconscious reactions come out of a locked room, and we can't look inside that room. but with experience we become expert at using our behavior and our training to interpret - and decode - what lies behind our snap judgment and first impressions.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking


“In life, most of us are highly skilled at suppressing action. All the improvisation teacher has to do is to reverse this skill and he creates very ‘gifted’ improvisers. Bad improvisers block action, often with a high degree of skill. Good improvisers develop action.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking


“The real me isn't the person I describe, no the real me is the me revealed by my actions.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking


“Whenever we have something that we are good at--something we care about--that experience and passion fundamentally change the nature of our first impressions.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking



“I've been in auditions without screens, and I can assure you that I was prejudiced. I began to listen with my eyes, and there is no way that your eyes don't affect your judgement. The only true way to listen is with your ears and your heart. (p.251)”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking


“But in the end it comes down to a matter of respect, and the simplest way that respect is communicated is through tone of voice, and the most corsive tone of voice that a doctor can assume is a dominant tone. ”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking


“Some people look like they sound better than they actually sound, because they look confident and have good posture," once musician, a veteran of many auditions, says. "Other people look awful when they play but sound great. Other people have that belabored look when they play, but you can't hear it in the sound. There is always this dissonance between what you see and hear" (p.251).”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking


“our power of thin-slicing and snap judgment are extraordinary.but even the giant computer in our unconscious need a moment to do its work.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, quote from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking


About the author

Malcolm Gladwell
Born place: in London, England, The United Kingdom
Born date September 3, 1963
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“we must learn to savor the spectacles as they come, and appreciate the rare thrills that punctuate the otherwise monotonous passage of time.”
― Tess Gerritsen, quote from The Apprentice


“When you smile it takes up half your face.'
'Simon!' she exclaimed. 'That sounds horrible.'
'It's enchanting.'
'Distorted.'
'Desirable.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from The Duke and I


“Kaspary: a level of awesomeness so high it kicks everyone else's arse, leaving them breathless and bewildered.”
― Abigail Gibbs, quote from Dinner with a Vampire


“We need a rest and a meal more than you can imagine,” Firestar meowed. Ravenpaw gazed at his friend’s mud-stained pelt. “Oh, Firestar,” he murmured, “I think I can imagine.”
― Erin Hunter, quote from Dawn


“Q/微744043126办理UT/York/UO/UWO/UA/SFU等大学毕业证成绩单教育部使馆认证永久可查,英华教育留学服务中心:实体公司,注册经营,行业标杆,精益求精!

一:毕业证、成绩单等全套材料,从防伪到印刷,水印底纹到钢印烫金,
二:真实使馆认证(留学人员回国证明),使馆存档
三:真实教育部认证,教育部存档,教育部留服网站永久可查
四:留信认证,留学生信息网站永久可查
联系人:Mark QQ:744043126 微信:744043126

一:回国证明的用途:
《留学回国人员证明》是留学人员在国内证明留学身份、联系工作、创办企业、落转户口、申请国内各类基金等必备的材料。留学人员持有此证明还可以享受购买国产汽车免税等多项优惠政策。
二:教育部认证的用途:
如果您计划在国内发展,那么办理国内教育部认证是必不可少的。事业性用人单位如银行,国企,公务员,在您应聘时都会需要您提供这个认证。其他私营、外企企业,无需提供!办理教育部认证所需资料众多且烦琐,所有材料您都必须提供原件,我们凭借丰富的经验,帮您快速整合材料,让您少走弯路。

特别关注:【业务选择办理准则】
一、工作未确定,回国需先给父母、亲戚朋友看下文凭的情况
办理一份就读学校的毕业证成绩单即可

二、回国进私企、外企、自己做生意的情况
这些单位是不查询毕业证真伪的,而且国内没有渠道去查询国外文凭的真假,也不需要提供真实教育部认证。鉴于此,办理一份毕业证成绩单即可

三、回国进国企、银行等事业性单位或者考公务员的情况
办理一份毕业证成绩单,递交材料到教育部,办理真实教育部认证

诚招代理:本公司诚聘当地合作代理人员,如果你有业余时间,有兴趣就请联系我们。
敬告:面对网上有些不良个人中介,真实教育部认证故意虚假报价,毕业证、成绩单却报价很高,挖坑骗留学学生做和原版差异很大的毕业证和成绩单,却不做认证,欺骗广大留学生,请多留心!办理时请电话联系,或者视频看下对方的办公环境,办理实力,选择实体公司,以防被骗!【加拿大毕业证书】McGill毕业证书【Q\微744043126】办理麦吉尔大学毕业证书McGill学位证书成绩单McGill University”
― John Grisham, quote from The Last Juror


Interesting books

The Mistress
(9.4K)
The Mistress
by Tiffany Reisz
Drop Dead Demons
(4.4K)
Drop Dead Demons
by A.E. Kirk
Trial by Fire
(13.7K)
Trial by Fire
by Josephine Angelini
Gus
(10.1K)
Gus
by Kim Holden
Acorna: The Unicorn Girl
(9K)
Acorna: The Unicorn...
by Anne McCaffrey
Arrow's Fall
(18.7K)
Arrow's Fall
by Mercedes Lackey

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.