David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

were a small number of selective public
schools that were even more prestigious
than the elite private schools. The tests
to get into them were incredibly
competitive. So the Sydney Morning
Herald—the big newspaper there—
would always call me up whenever they
were holding their entrance
examinations. It would happen every
year, and there was always this pressure
to say something new. So finally I just
said—and maybe I shouldn’t have—
well, if you want to see the positive
effects of elite schools on self-concept,
you are measuring the wrong person.
You should be measuring the parents.”