Quotes About Decision

Apparently we always think we want choice, but when we actually get it, we may not like it. Meanwhile, the need to chose in ever more aspects of life causes us more distress than we realize.

The choice of when to be a chooser may be the most important choice we have to make.

Adding the second option creates a conflict, forcing a trade-off between price and quality.

adding options can be detrimental to our well-being. Because we don't put rejected options out of our minds

The discrepancy between logic and memory suggests that we don't always know what we want.

Learning to accept "good enough" will simplify decision making and increase satisfaction.

WE'VE SEEN THAT AS THE NUMBER OF OPTIONS UNDER CONSIDERATION goes up and the attractive features associated with the rejected alternatives accumulate, the satisfaction derived from the chosen alternative will go down.

when products are essentially equivalent, people go with what's familiar, even if it's only familiar because they know its name from advertising.

Clearly, the cumulative opportunity cost of adding options to one's choice set can reduce satisfaction. It may even make a person miserable.

Even how we dress for work has taken on a new element of choice, and with it, new anxieties.

ANYTIME YOU MAKE A DECISION AND IT DOESN'T TURN OUT WELL or you find an alternative that would have turned out better, you're a candidate for regret.

This is postdecision regret, regret that occurs after we've experienced the results of a decision. But there is also something called anticipated regret, which rears its head even before a decision is made.

Postdecision regret is sometimes referred to as "buyer's remorse.

The benefits of having options are apparent with each particular decision we face, but the costs are subtle and cumulative.

If we are responsible for an action that turns out badly and if it almost turned out well, then we are prime candidates for regret.

But if you've been convinced by the arguments and the evidence in this book, you now know that choice has a downside, an awareness that should make it easier for you to adopt, and live with, a "two options is my limit" rule. It's worth a try.

It is choosers who create new opportunities for themselves and everyone else. But when faced with overwhelming choice, we are forced to become "pickers," which is to say, relatively passive selectors from whatever is available.

NOVELIST AND EXISTENTIALIST PHILOSOPHER ALBERT CAMUS POSED the question, "Should I kill myself, or have a cup of coffee?" His point was that everything in life is choice.

the fact that some choice is good doesn't necessarily mean that more choice is better.

On the other hand, the more we think about opportunity costs, the less satisfaction we'll derive from whatever we choose. So we should make an effort to limit how much we think about the attractive features of options we reject.

Choosers have the time to modify their goals; pickers do not. Choosers have the time to avoid following the herd; pickers do not. Good decisions take time and attention, and the only way we can find the needed time and attention is by choosing our spots.

If people err systematically and substantially in making those predictions, it's likely that they will make some bad decisions—decisions that produce regret, even when events turn out well.

Having the opportunity to choose is no blessing if we feel we do not have the wherewithal to choose wisely.

The Paradox of Choice has a simple yet profoundly life-altering message for all Americans. Schwartz's eleven practical, simple steps to becoming less choosey will change much in your daily life…. Buy This Book Now!" —PHILIP G. ZIMBARDO