Similarities and Differences of Outliers The Story of...

Outliers: The Story of Success, by Malcolm Gladwell, and the essay Self-Reliance, by Ralph Waldo Emerson, interact with each other quite well with many similarities and differences. In Gladwell’s book, he shares many stories of how people become successful, explaining that success is not achieved based on the character traits and work habits of an individual. He says, â€Å"We all know that successful people come from hardy seeds. But do we know enough about the sunlight that warmed them, the soil in which they put down the roots†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Gladwell, 20) Gladwell insists that success counts on where an individual comes from and all aspects of their life. However, in Self-Reliance, Emerson never mentions success. He explains the importance of individualism and free thought. â€Å"What I must do is all that concerns me, not what people think.† (Emerson, 9) Emerson argues that everyone should go out and seek the life that pleases them, whether that is success, or not. Despite the differences in the two texts, in their writings, both authors show how individuals can step away from the rest of society and become outliers. In the beginning of Outliers, Gladwell states it is a book about men and women who do things out of the ordinary. Throughout Self-Reliance, Emerson debates that everyone should avoid conformity, in other words do things your own way and do things out of the ordinary. He says, â€Å"I hope in these days we have seen the last of conformity and consistency.† (Emerson, 17) I believe this