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Goliath
T. E. Lawrence was a British military leader best known for leading the Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Better known as “Lawrence of Arabia,” he was put in charge of a number of Bedouin soldiers who didn’t have conventional military skills. However, they were remarkably capable of traveling through the deserts and navigating around their enemies, which put them at an advantage while fighting Turkish forces. Gladwell notes that Lawrence was a creative leader who didn’t mind working hard to turn his army’s supposed disadvantages into advantages, which is how he ended up successfully seizing the port town of Aqaba from the Turks.
T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) Quotes in David and Goliath
The David and Goliath quotes below are all either spoken by T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) or refer to T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). 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:
).
Chapter 1: Vivek Ranadivé
Quotes
Having lots of soldiers and weapons and resources—as the Turks did—is an advantage. But it makes you immobile and puts you on the defensive. Meanwhile, movement, endurance, individual intelligence, knowledge of the country, and courage—which Lawrence’s men had in abundance—allowed them to do the impossible, namely, attack Aqaba from the east, a strategy so audacious that the Turks never saw it coming. There is a set of advantages that have to do with material resources, and there is a set that have to do with the absence of material resources—and the reason underdogs win as often as they do is that the latter is sometimes every bit the equal of the former.
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T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) Quotes in David and Goliath
The David and Goliath quotes below are all either spoken by T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) or refer to T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). 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:
).
Chapter 1: Vivek Ranadivé
Quotes
Having lots of soldiers and weapons and resources—as the Turks did—is an advantage. But it makes you immobile and puts you on the defensive. Meanwhile, movement, endurance, individual intelligence, knowledge of the country, and courage—which Lawrence’s men had in abundance—allowed them to do the impossible, namely, attack Aqaba from the east, a strategy so audacious that the Turks never saw it coming. There is a set of advantages that have to do with material resources, and there is a set that have to do with the absence of material resources—and the reason underdogs win as often as they do is that the latter is sometimes every bit the equal of the former.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
