Normality is the route to nowhere. -- Ridderstrale & Nordstorm, Funky Business

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.

I'm always happy to trade performance for readability as long as the former isn't already scarce. -- Crayz (Commentor on blog.raganwald.com)

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. -- Lao­Tzu

The greatest challenge to any thinker is stating the problem in a way that will allow a solution. -- Bertrand Russell

I’d rather write programs to write programs than write programs. -- Richard Sites

We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained. –Marie Curie

Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day-in and day-out. ~Robert Collier

Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. ~Lolly Daskal

I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well. ~Diane Ackerman