What do Americans look for in a car? I've heard many answers when I've asked this question. The answers include excellent safety ratings, great gas mileage, handling, and cornering ability, among others. I don't believe any of these. That's because the first principle of the Culture Code is that the only effective way to understand what people truly mean is to ignore what they say. This is not to suggest that people intentionally lie or misrepresent themselves. What it means is that, when asked direct questions about their interests and preferences, people tend to give answers they believe the questioner wants to hear. Again, this is not because they intend to mislead. It is because people respond to these questions with their cortexes, the parts of their brains that control intelligence rather than emotion or instinct. They ponder a question, they process a question, and when they deliver an answer, it is the product of deliberation. They believe they are telling the truth. A lie detector would confirm this. In most cases, however, they aren't saying what they mean. -- The culture code.

The trouble with the world is that the stupid are always cocksure and the intelligent are always filled with doubt. -- Bertrand Russell

You will never become a Great Programmer until you acknowledge that you will always be a Terrible Programmer. You will remain a Great Programmer for only as long as you acknowledge that you are still a Terrible Programmer. -- Marc (http://kickin-the-darkness.blogspot.com/)

To follow the path: look to the master, follow the master, walk with the master, see through the master, become the master. -- Modern zen Poem

In God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me? -- David (Psalm 56:4)

The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. -- Elie Wiesel

If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else. –Booker T. Washington

Happiness is not something readymade. It comes from your own actions. –Dalai Lama

Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. ~Lolly Daskal

When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it. –Henry Ford