What do Americans look for in a car? I've heard many answers when I've asked this question. The answers include excellent safety ratings, great gas mileage, handling, and cornering ability, among others. I don't believe any of these. That's because the first principle of the Culture Code is that the only effective way to understand what people truly mean is to ignore what they say. This is not to suggest that people intentionally lie or misrepresent themselves. What it means is that, when asked direct questions about their interests and preferences, people tend to give answers they believe the questioner wants to hear. Again, this is not because they intend to mislead. It is because people respond to these questions with their cortexes, the parts of their brains that control intelligence rather than emotion or instinct. They ponder a question, they process a question, and when they deliver an answer, it is the product of deliberation. They believe they are telling the truth. A lie detector would confirm this. In most cases, however, they aren't saying what they mean. -- The culture code.

There is one meaning [for static in C]: a global variable that is invisible outside the current scope, be it a function or a file. -- Paolo Bonzini

Having large case statements in an object-oriented language is a sure sign your design is flawed. -- [Fixing architecture flaws in Rails' ORM]

Hire people smarter than you. Work with people smarter than you. Listen to them. Let them lead you. Take the blame for all failures, give away the credit for all successes. -- How to fail: 25 secrets learned through failure

There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home. -- Ken Olson, President, Digital Equipment Corporation, 1977

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler. -- Albert Einstein

If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else. –Booker T. Washington

You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore. –Christopher Columbus

You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. –Maya Angelou

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. –Pablo Picasso