--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: that made the unfamiliar familiar." description: "\"“that made the unfamiliar familiar.”\" — Malcolm Gladwell" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e3/malcolm-gladwell-348_familiar_that-made-the-unfamiliar-familiar-695295_695295.png" --- # that made the unfamiliar familiar. ![“that made the unfamiliar familiar.” quote by Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e3/malcolm-gladwell-348_familiar_that-made-the-unfamiliar-familiar-695295_695295.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e3/malcolm-gladwell-348_familiar_that-made-the-unfamiliar-familiar-695295_695295.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e3/malcolm-gladwell-348_familiar_that-made-the-unfamiliar-familiar-695295_695295.png) > ““that made the unfamiliar familiar.”” [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The phrase describes a process where something unknown becomes familiar through exposure or explanation. **In simple terms:** Making the unknown familiar. Key Takeaway Explain concepts clearly to bridge gaps. Themes learning communication familiarity explanation psychology Mood informative encouraging Type educational practical When to use this quote - teaching - marketing - storytelling - product design Key Concepts cognitive adaptation knowledge transfer education Questions to Reflect On - How do you make new ideas accessible? - When does familiarity hinder innovation? A Different Perspective Over‑familiarity can lead to complacency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Familiar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/familiar/) [Unfamiliar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unfamiliar/) [Unfamiliar Familiar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unfamiliar-familiar-1222826/) ## Related quotes > [Nothing is so awesomely unfamiliar as the familiar that discloses itself at the end of a journey. Nothing shakes the heart so much as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/nothing-is-so-awesomely-unfamiliar-as-the-familiar-that-discloses-2/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [“Teach him to call it ‘real-life and don’t let him ask what he means by ‘real’. (...) Never having been human (...) you don’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-staples-lewis/teach-him-to-call-it-real-life-and-don-t-let-him-ask-what-he-means-by/) [Clive Staples Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-staples-lewis/) > [Nothing is so awesomely unfamiliar as the familiar that discloses itself at the end of a journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/nothing-is-so-awesomely-unfamiliar-as-the-familiar-that-discloses/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [Each of the essays in this volume ranges widely across technical and philosophical domains. They examine both familiar automatons from throughout history and delight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-brooks/each-of-the-essays-in-this-volume-ranges-widely-across-technical-and/) [Rodney Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-brooks/) > [There is no easy or difficult; only familiar and unfamiliar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-werner/there-is-no-easy-or-difficult-only-familiar-and-unfamiliar/) [Kenny Werner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-werner/) > [I disliked the unfamiliar happiness more than the familiar sadness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tablo/i-disliked-the-unfamiliar-happiness-more-than-the-familiar-sadness/) [Tablo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tablo/) > [If you want things to change to different things, you must think different thoughts. And that simply requires finding unfamiliar ways of approaching familiar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-hicks/if-you-want-things-to-change-to-different-things-you-must-think/) [Esther Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-hicks/) > [In order to educate man to a new longing, everyday familiar objects must be shown to him with totally unexpected perspectives and in unexpected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-rodchenko/in-order-to-educate-man-to-a-new-longing-everyday-familiar-objects/) [Alexander Rodchenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-rodchenko/) > [Photography today appears to be in a state of flight... The familiar is made strange, the unfamiliar grotesque. The amateur forces his Sundays into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothea-lange/photography-today-appears-to-be-in-a-state-of-flight-the-familiar-is/) [Dorothea Lange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothea-lange/) > [Having lived in Utah all of my life, I can tell that in many ways I know of no place more lonely, no place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/having-lived-in-utah-all-of-my-life-i-can-tell-that-in-many-ways-i/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [What seems natural to us is probably just something familiar in a long tradition that has forgotten the unfamiliar source from which it arose.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-heidegger/what-seems-natural-to-us-is-probably-just-something-familiar-in-a/) [Martin Heidegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-heidegger/) > [“We become so used to the familiar that we begin to doubt the unfamiliar, until our eyes are opened and we see .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-dekker/we-become-so-used-to-the-familiar-that-we-begin-to-doubt-the/) [Ted Dekker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-dekker/) > [My work involves the physical manifestation of emotional reality. Thus, the invisible becomes visible; the normal, abnormal; and the familiar, unfamiliar. Ordinary life is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandy-skoglund/my-work-involves-the-physical-manifestation-of-emotional-reality-thus/) [Sandy Skoglund](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandy-skoglund/) > [May you eat an unfamiliar dessert in a strange land at least once every three years. May you wake up... and start dancing while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brezsny/may-you-eat-an-unfamiliar-dessert-in-a-strange-land-at-least-once/) [Rob Brezsny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brezsny/) > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) [Ted Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-martinez/) ## More by Malcolm Gladwell > [When I go to my health club, and it's in the basement, you have to take the elevator down. And this drives me crazy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/when-i-go-to-my-health-club-and-it-s-in-the-basement-you-have-to-take/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/the-tipping-point-is-that-magic-moment-when-an-idea-trend-or-social/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [“The scholars who research happiness suggest that more money stops making people happier at a family income of around seventy-five thousand dollars a year.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/the-scholars-who-research-happiness-suggest-that-more-money-stops/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [We need to be clear when we venerate entrepreneurs what we are venerating.They are not moral leaders. If they were moral leaders, they wouldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/we-need-to-be-clear-when-we-venerate-entrepreneurs-what-we-are/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [“Some people look like they sound better than they actually sound, because they look confident and have good posture," once musician, a veteran of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/some-people-look-like-they-sound-better-than-they-actually-sound/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [A handicap is like trying to race and you have a ten pound weight stuck to your waist. That is a handicap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/a-handicap-is-like-trying-to-race-and-you-have-a-ten-pound-weight/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [“neighborhood was filled with engineers from Hewlett-Packard, then as now one of”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/neighborhood-was-filled-with-engineers-from-hewlett-packard-then-as/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [“People are ruined by challenged economic lives. But they are ruined by wealth as well because they lose their ambition and they lose their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/people-are-ruined-by-challenged-economic-lives-but-they-are-ruined-by/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [The single most important thing a city can do is provide a community where interesting, smart people want to live with their families.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/the-single-most-important-thing-a-city-can-do-is-provide-a-community/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [ \[Norden\] said, with the Mark 15 Norden bombsight, he could drop a bomb into a pickle barrel at 20,000 feet. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/norden-said-with-the-mark-15-norden-bombsight-he-could-drop-a-bomb/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [The willingness to be self-critical in England is much greater than the willingness to be self-critical in America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/the-willingness-to-be-self-critical-in-england-is-much-greater-than/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [The conventional explanation for Jewish success, of course, is that Jews come from a literate, intellectual culture. They are famously "the people of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/the-conventional-explanation-for-jewish-success-of-course-is-that/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [“An archway to one side leads to a church, the Madonna del Carmine—Our Lady of Mount Carmine. Narrow”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/an-archway-to-one-side-leads-to-a-church-the-madonna-del-carmine-our/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [People are experience-rich and theory-poor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/people-are-experience-rich-and-theory-poor/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [“Most psychologists believe that nature—genetics—accounts for about half of the reason why we tend to act the way we do. His point is simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/most-psychologists-believe-that-nature-genetics-accounts-for-about/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) [Explore all 647 Malcolm Gladwell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) ## More Familiar quotes > [ There was another reason \[she\] took her books whenever they went away. They were her home when she was somewhere strange. They were familiar… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/there-was-another-reason-she-took-her-books-whenever-they-went-away/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [It's a very familiar type of place where people either go to their house on the lake or they get together in different places.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-carell/it-s-a-very-familiar-type-of-place-where-people-either-go-to-their/) [Steve Carell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-carell/) > [Photography's potential as a great image-maker and communicator is really no different from the same potential in the best poetry where familiar, everyday words,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-caponigro/photography-s-potential-as-a-great-image-maker-and-communicator-is/) [Paul Caponigro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-caponigro/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [This kind of horror has become all too familiar to us. As parents, Cindy and I offer our prayers to the memory of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mccain/this-kind-of-horror-has-become-all-too-familiar-to-us-as-parents/) [John McCain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mccain/) > [Any creative process is about being in a territory which isn't secure, isn't necessarily familiar, and isn't convenient in any sort of way. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susanne-bier/any-creative-process-is-about-being-in-a-territory-which-isn-t-secure/) [Susanne Bier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susanne-bier/) > [By the time they were pulling into the parking lot of the A&P, the mood was fading, the moment gone. Amy could feel it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/by-the-time-they-were-pulling-into-the-parking-lot-of-the-a-p-the/) [Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/) > [I don't look to play people that are familiar. I look to play people that are different, challenge, unknown, foreign, and therefore scary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-jessica-parker/i-don-t-look-to-play-people-that-are-familiar-i-look-to-play-people/) [Sarah Jessica Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-jessica-parker/) > [My pet peeve is hearing a knock on the bathroom door followed by the familiar words, 'What are you doing in there?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-scalf-linamen/my-pet-peeve-is-hearing-a-knock-on-the-bathroom-door-followed-by-the/) [Karen Scalf Linamen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-scalf-linamen/) > [The barman sidled toward them out of a back room. He was a grump-looking old man with a great deal of a long gray…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-barman-sidled-toward-them-out-of-a-back-room-he-was-a-grump/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Television is a thing that people get very familiar with. They want to hear your voice in their head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damon-wayans-jr/television-is-a-thing-that-people-get-very-familiar-with-they-want-to/) [Damon Wayans, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damon-wayans-jr/) > [It's truly gratifying to see my films reach beyond a familiar public, to get a chance to move new audiences. It's nuts. It's extraordinary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-audiard/it-s-truly-gratifying-to-see-my-films-reach-beyond-a-familiar-public/) [Jacques Audiard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-audiard/) > [When I was in high school, I was a bad singer. I mean, all my early acting was musical theater, and my first ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-claflin/when-i-was-in-high-school-i-was-a-bad-singer-i-mean-all-my-early/) [Sam Claflin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-claflin/) > [Fella’s a genius. Best ever by a distance in my life time. Never really saw Pele… Souness, Gullit, Venables and now Rooney agree Messi…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-lineker/fella-s-a-genius-best-ever-by-a-distance-in-my-life-time-never-really/) [Gary Lineker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-lineker/) > [Sometimes all it takes is a tiny shift of perspective to see something familiar in a totally new light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/sometimes-all-it-takes-is-a-tiny-shift-of-perspective-to-see/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) [Browse all 1,916 Familiar quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/familiar/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“that made the unfamiliar familiar.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Malcolm Gladwell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/that-made-the-unfamiliar-familiar/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Familiar" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/that-made-the-unfamiliar-familiar/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e3/malcolm-gladwell-348_familiar_that-made-the-unfamiliar-familiar-695295_695295.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e3/malcolm-gladwell-348_familiar_that-made-the-unfamiliar-familiar-695295_695295.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e3/malcolm-gladwell-348_familiar_that-made-the-unfamiliar-familiar-695295_695295.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“that made the unfamiliar familiar.” — Malcolm Gladwell", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Malcolm Gladwell", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“that made the unfamiliar familiar.”", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/that-made-the-unfamiliar-familiar/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/that-made-the-unfamiliar-familiar/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```