Robert B. Cialdini

People's ability to understand the factors that affect their behavior is surprisingly poor.

The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost.

There is a natural human tendency to dislike a person who brings us unpleasant information, even when that person did not cause the bad news.

Since 95 percent of the people are imitators and only 5 percent initiators, people are persuaded more by the actions of others than by any proof we can offer.

A well-known principle of human behavior says that when we ask someone to do us a favor we will be more successful if we provide a reason. People simply like to have reasons for what they do.

The truly gifted negotiator, then, is one whose initial position is exaggerated enough to allow for a series of reciprocal concessions that will yield a desirable final offer.

We all fool ourselves from time to time in order to keep our thoughts and beliefs consistent with what we have already done or decided.