When it comes to interpreting other people’s behavior, human beings invariably make the mistake of overestimating the importance of fundamental character traits and underestimating the importance of the situation and context. We will always reach for a “dispositional” explanation for events, as opposed to a contextual explanation.
from The Tipping Point, (Back Bay, 2002), 160.
Ha ha, did he actually say this? Because:
http://socialpulses.wordpress.com/2013/10/05/malcolm-gladwells-fundamental-attribution-error-on-external-factors-of-academicprofessional-success/