Quotes About Influence

In the last few chapters, we've seen that a credible idea makes people believe. An emotional idea makes people care. And in this chapter we'll see that the right stories make people act.

That's what sticky ideas do—they make people feel something. Change comes from feeling, not facts.

It's clear that we imitate the behaviors of others, whether consciously or not. We are especially keen to see what they're doing when the situation is unfamiliar or ambiguous. And change situations are, by definition, unfamiliar! So if you want to change things, you have to pay close attention to social signals, because they can either guarantee a change effort or doom it.

Thinking, Fast and Slow, mentioned above, and Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational. One of the handful of books that provides advice on making decisions better is Nudge by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, which was written for "choice architects" in business and government who construct decision systems such as retirement plans or organ-donation policies. It has been used to improve government policies in the United States, Great Britain, and other countries.

Behavior is contagious. Help it spread.

Habits are behavioral autopilot, and that's why they're such a critical tool for leaders. Leaders who can instill habits that reinforce their teams' goals are essentially making progress for free.

There's no such thing as a passive audience.

Character is always more caught than taught.

I started to understand that just a logo was much more powerful a branding statement than a name alone.

Isn't that what truth is? The force of a person's believing seeps into those around him—into the very earth and air and water—until there's nothing else.

You will be remembered for causing the greatest war of your time.

People revered his father as the Lion of Punjab, but his mother is the one they should have called Lioness.

Ah, how helpless we children are, how dependent on the whims of adults.

What is it in us that carves negative impressions so deeply into our brains?

Isn't that what truth is? The force of a person's believing seeps into those around him— into the very earth and air and water—until there's nothing else.

A wise person allows herself to be used when it suits her purpose. She pretends weakness, then waits for the right moment to take control.

Daughter and mother, mother and daughter. Though we would like to think otherwise, how our lives echo each other's.

The force of a person's believing seeps into those around him— into the very earth and air and water—until there's nothing else.

Yes, I've learned a few things along the way, though now that I'm neither man nor woman they can't do me any good. But here's one that may be of use to you: the power of a man is like a bull's charge, while the power of a woman moves aslant, like a serpent seeking its prey. Know the particular properties of your power. Unless you use it correctly, it won't get you what you want.

As for being pawns," Krishna was saying, "aren't we all pawns in the hands of Time, the greatest player of them all?

I would approach the problem aslant. No matter what my father's intention, I could still make Arjun's heart beat faster. I could still influence how he thought. Perhaps Time was the master player. But within the limits allowed to humans in this world the sages called unreal, I would be a player, too.

aren't we all pawns in the hands of Time, the greatest player of them all?

Krishna shrugged. "He believes it to be so. Isn't that what truth is? The force of a person's believing seeps into those around him—into the very earth and air and water—until there's nothing else.

Fame: it's a drug more potent than opium.