“Precision of communication,” insisted American writer James Thurber, “is important, more important than ever, in our era of hair-trigger balances, when a false, or misunderstood, word may create as much disaster as a sudden thoughtless act.” (Location 84)
“The art of communication is the language of leadership,” (Location 91)
people skills that lead to influence have as much to do with the messenger—a leader in some right—as with the medium. (Location 92)
“You can make more friends in two months by becoming more interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get people interested in you.” (Location 99)
quickest path to personal or professional growth is not in hyping yourself to others but in sharing yourself with them. (Location 109)
Communication is simply an outward manifestation of our thoughts, our intentions, and our conclusions about the people around us. “Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Location 113)
the highest levels of influence are reached when generosity and trustworthiness surround your behavior. (Location 117)
People are moved when their interactions with you always leave them a little better. (Location 177)
Any medium carrying a message that lacks meaning will fall short of its intention: a television ad, a department memo, a client email, a birthday card. (Location 182)
the reasons we do things are more important than the things we do. (Location 228)
influence is the reward of the trustworthy agent of the common good. (Location 270)
We communicate toward tearing others down or toward building others up. (Location 271)
“As much as we thirst for approval,” explained endocrinologist Hans Selye, “we dread condemnation.” (Location 343)
“For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.” (Location 386)
“The ancestor of every action is a thought,” (Location 423)
People aren’t things to be molded; they’re lives to be unfolded. And that’s what true leaders do. They unfold the lives of others and help them reach their God-given potential. (Location 460)
“When we treat man as he is, we make him worse than he is; when we treat him as if he already were what he potentially could be, we make him what he should be.”7 (Location 472)
‘Goodness is the only investment that never fails.’” (Location 799)
One can never underestimate the importance of affinity. (Location 813)
Your smile is often the first messenger of your goodwill. (Location 900)
Written words and their effect are permanent and largely irrefutable. (Location 930)
smile, someone once said, costs nothing but gives much. It enriches those who receive without making poorer those who give. It takes but a moment, but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever. (Location 973)
None is so rich or mighty that he cannot get along without it and none is so poor that he cannot be made rich by it. Yet a smile cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen, for it is something that is of no value to anyone until it is given away. Some people are too tired to give you a smile. Give them one of yours, as none needs a smile so much as he who has no more to give.15 Smile. It increases your face value. (Location 975)
“Good manners are made up of petty sacrifices.” (Location 1048)
When we go online, we enter an environment that promotes cursory reading, hurried and distracted thinking, and superficial learning. (Location 1060)
The power of listening is the power to change hearts and minds. More consequentially, it is the power of giving people what they most desire—to be heard and understood. (Location 1138)
99 percent of all conflicts are about the misunderstanding of words used in different contexts. (Location 1274)
motivates you to win friends is rarely what motivates others to grant you friendship. (Location 1379)
Arguing with another person will rarely get you anywhere; (Location 1458)
In the end you must value interdependence higher than independence and understand that deferential negotiation is more effective in the long run than a noncompliant crusade. (Location 1489)
The best solution, wisest decision, and brightest idea nearly always exist outside of what one party brings to the table. (Location 1518)
“Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it. Those who learn the wrong lessons from the past may be equally doomed,” (Location 1521)
In most disputes, our differences with others are far subtler than we allow ourselves to see. (Location 1537)
Telling people they are wrong will only earn you enemies. (Location 1623)
it was easier to bear self-condemnation than condemnation from others. If (Location 1707)
“We talk to every single individual as though we’re going to be sitting next to that person at his or her mother’s house that night for dinner.” (Location 1808)
“he who sows courtesy reaps friendship.” (Location 1824)
who you get is not determined by what you want. It’s determined by who you (Location 1855)
Either you can seek friendships with those who are already successful, or you can seek success for those who are already friends. (Location 1961)
Reciprocity is a natural by-product of a relationship where two people share in joys and pains. “Double the joy, half the sorrow,” goes the saying. (Location 1980)
“There is no limit to what a man can do, or where he can go, if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit.” (Location 1990)
While connection is necessary to keep us thriving, competition is necessary to keep us striving. (Location 2226)
Get dirty for the sake of others, and they will get dirty for you. (Location 2275)
