Moderation In Part I, Chapter II Of David And Goliath

The Importance of Moderation

People often think that the more you have, the better and easier your life will be. In Part I, Chapter II of David and Goliath written by Malcolm Gladwell, he argues that it is more important to find a healthy balance, than have either extreme. Things are good in moderation. Having more did not make David win against Goliath, although it seems like it should have; having a lot of money does not make parenting any easier; And having less kids does not make a school better. One way M.G shows the importance of moderation, is by sharing the story of David and Goliath. David and Goliath are a great example of moderation because of the difference in their preparation for the battle. For example, Goliath wore an excessive

That was some heavy armor! He also had “greaves of brass upon his legs, and a arget of brass between his shoulders… and the staff of his spear… weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.” Due to all his heavy armor, he was weighed down and could not move very fast. In the Philistine’s mind, there was no way he would lose because of his size, and his armor. He was their largest and strongest soldier. It was a sure win. I was asked to give a talk a couple years ago, and decided to write everything down. Even down to the smallest detail. What I thought would help me in the end, ended up making it so I was not able to connect to the audience in the way that I had hoped. I thought that by overpreparing, I would do better, but that was not the case. David on the other hand didn’t come over or under prepared. He

He tells us about how hard it would be for his children to learn all of these important lessons. He was worried that his children wouldn’t understand the meaning of work, or the value of money. They wouldn’t get to make their own way in t the world because of his success. They wouldn’t learn to work hard, or have their father tell them off for leaving the lights on. He realized how hard it would be to bring his kids up. He recognized that you need to find a balance in the middle. Not challenged economically, but not “living courtside” either. M.G then goes on to explain how “money makes parenting easier until a certain point.” He shows a parent-income graph, which shows us that $75,000 is where it peaks, before it starts getting harder again. I had a similar experience when my parents offered to pay for tuition for 4 semesters. I was extremely grateful, and instead of having more money saved up for college, I ended up spending more of my money. I spent a lot more money than I would have, instead of saving more up, because I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about tuition. At least for now. Going back to the story, the father talked about his upbringing. He talked about how hard it was for him growing up. He grew up in an impoverished area and had to work very hard. He worked several jobs, and always worked very hard. He made smart choices whenever he did spend his money. He lived