“There’s a natural instinct embedded in friendship, a sympathy that makes us willing to fight for someone we like when they are treated unjustly.”

Most of the choices we make each day may feel like the products of well-considered decision making, but they’re not. They’re habits.

There’s something really powerful about groups and shared experiences. People might be skeptical about their ability to change if they’re by themselves, but a group will convince them to suspend disbelief. A community creates belief.

When people have a willpower failure, it’s because they haven’t anticipated a situation that’s going to come along.

Willpower isn’t just a skill. It’s a muscle, like the muscles in your arms or legs, and it gets tired as it works harder, so there’s less power left over for other things.

The cooperation of NASCAR – or any other system, it turns out – persists only when everyone believes he has the opportunity to win.

The biggest moment of flexibility in our shopping habits is when we have a child, because when you think about it, all of your old routines sort of go out the window, and suddenly a marketer can come in and sell you new kinds of things.

The waste from power plants is essentially what is left over when you burn coal. And as we all know, coal is a relatively dirty mineral.

I think I’m smart, and I know I was a good mom. But there wasn’t a lot I could point to and say, that’s why I’m special.

There’s something about it that makes other good habits easier.

Hiding what you know is sometimes as important as knowing it.

If you want to do something that requires willpower – like going for a run after work – you have to conserve your willpower muscle during the day.

Habits are malleable throughout your entire life.

The best agencies understood the importance of routines. The worst agencies were headed by people who never thought about it, and then wondered why no one followed their orders.

Companies aren’t families. They’re battlefields in a civil war.

Small wins are a steady application of a small advantage.

Belief is easier when it occurs within a community.