Home > Author > Robert B. Cialdini
1 " A well-known principle of human behavior says that when we ask someone to do us a favor we will be more successful if we provide a reason. People simply like to have reasons for what they do. "
― Robert B. Cialdini , Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
2 " Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make some copies? The result was that once again nearly all (93 percent) agreed, even though no real reason, no new information, was added to justify their compliance. Just as the “cheep-cheep” sound of turkey chicks triggered an automatic mothering response from maternal turkeys—even when it emanated from a stuffed polecat—so, too, did the word “because” trigger an automatic compliance response "
3 " 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. "
4 " the automatic, fixed-action patterns of these animals work very well the great majority of the time. For example, because only healthy, normal turkey chicks make the peculiar sound of baby turkeys, it makes sense for mother turkeys to respond maternally to that single “cheep-cheep” noise. "
5 " The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost. "
6 " Where all think alike, no one thinks very much. —WALTER LIPPMANN "
7 " 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. "
8 " we all fool ourselves from time to time in order to keep our thoughts and beliefs consistent with what we have already done or decided "
9 " 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. "
10 " 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. "
11 " people seem to be more motivated by the thought of losing something than by the thought of gaining something of equal value. "
12 " Freedoms once granted will not be relinquished without a fight. "
13 " Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. —ALBERT EINSTEIN "
14 " 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 "
15 " 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. "
16 " When our freedom to have something is limited, the item becomes less available, and we experience an increased desire for it. However, we rarely recognize that psychological reactance has caused us to want the item more; all we know is that we want it. Still, we need to make sense of our desire for the item, so we begin to assign it positive qualities to justify the desire. "
17 " It is easier to resist at the beginning than at the end. —LEONARDO DA VINCI "
18 " 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. "
19 " There is no expedient to which a man will not resort to avoid the real labor of thinking. "
20 " 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. "
