Quotes from Robert B. Cialdini

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. The simple association with it is enough to stimulate our dislike.

Often we don't realize that our attitude toward something has been influenced by the number of times we have been exposed to it in the past.

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

persons who go through a great deal of trouble or pain to attain something tend to value it more highly than persons who attain the same thing with a minimum of effort.

people seem to be more motivated by the thought of losing something than by the thought of gaining something of equal value.

Freedoms once granted will not be relinquished without a fight.

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. —ALBERT EINSTEIN

The idea of potential loss plays a large role in human decision making. In fact, people seem to be more motivated by the thought of losing something than by the thought of gaining something of equal value.

It is easier to resist at the beginning than at the end. —LEONARDO DA VINCI

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.

There is no expedient to which a man will not resort to avoid the real labor of thinking.

All things being equal, you root for your own sex, your own culture, your own locality…and what you want to prove is that you are better than the other person. Whomever you root for represents you; and when he wins, you win."88

people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.79

Be as precise as possible about your need for aid.

Research has shown that we automatically assign to good-looking individuals such favorable traits as talent, kindness, honesty, and intelligence (for a review of this evidence, see Langlois et al., 2000).

what is more accessible in mind becomes more probable in action,

Nothing in life is as important as you think it is while you are thinking about it."18

First, we seem to assume that if a lot of people are doing the same thing, they must know something we don't.

In general, when we are unsure of ourselves, when the situation is unclear or ambiguous, when uncertainty reigns, we are most likely to look to and accept the actions of others as correct.

good-looking people are aware that other people's positive evaluations of them are not based on their actual traits and abilities but are often caused by an attractiveness "halo

Apparently we have such an automatically positive reaction to compliments that we can fall victim to someone who uses them in an obvious attempt to win our favor.

Our best evidence of what people truly feel and believe comes less from their words than from their deeds.

our typical reaction to scarcity hinders our ability to think.

The customers, mostly well-to-do vacationers with little knowledge of turquoise, were using a standard principle—a stereotype—to guide their buying: "expensive = good.