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Rosemary Lawlor
Nathan Leites was a researcher who studied the nature of authority after World War II. Together with his colleague Charles Wolf Jr., he penned Rebellion and Authority, in which the two men argue that people in positions of power don’t need to pay attention to how they’re perceived. Rather, Leites and Wolf believe that authority figures simply need to harshly punish insurgents in order to cement their power. However, Gladwell demonstrates that it’s a mistake for authorities to ignore how people feel about them, upholding that it’s important for people to feel as if authority figures have a sense of “legitimacy.”
Nathan Leites Quotes in David and Goliath
The David and Goliath quotes below are all either spoken by Nathan Leites or refer to Nathan Leites. 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 7: Rosemary Lawlor
Quotes
In Northern Ireland, the British made a simple mistake. They fell into the trap of believing that because they had resources, weapons, soldiers, and experience that dwarfed those of the insurgent elements that they were trying to contain, it did not matter what the people of Northern Ireland thought of them. General Freeland believed Leites and Wolf when they said that “influencing popular behavior requires neither sympathy nor mysticism.” And Leites and Wolf were wrong.
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First of all, the people who are asked to obey authority have to feel like they have a voice—that if they speak up, they will be heard. Second, the law has to be predictable. There has to be a reasonable expectation that the rules tomorrow are going to be roughly the same as the rules today. And third, the authority has to be fair. It can’t treat one group differently from another.
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Nathan Leites Quotes in David and Goliath
The David and Goliath quotes below are all either spoken by Nathan Leites or refer to Nathan Leites. 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 7: Rosemary Lawlor
Quotes
In Northern Ireland, the British made a simple mistake. They fell into the trap of believing that because they had resources, weapons, soldiers, and experience that dwarfed those of the insurgent elements that they were trying to contain, it did not matter what the people of Northern Ireland thought of them. General Freeland believed Leites and Wolf when they said that “influencing popular behavior requires neither sympathy nor mysticism.” And Leites and Wolf were wrong.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
First of all, the people who are asked to obey authority have to feel like they have a voice—that if they speak up, they will be heard. Second, the law has to be predictable. There has to be a reasonable expectation that the rules tomorrow are going to be roughly the same as the rules today. And third, the authority has to be fair. It can’t treat one group differently from another.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
