However, to modify a habit, you must decide to change it. You must consiously accept the hard work of identifying the cues and rewards that drive the habits' routines, and find alternatives. You must know you have control and be self-conscious enough to use it -- and every chapter in this book is devoted to illustrating a different aspect of why that control is real.

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

This is the real power of habit: the insight that your habits are what you choose them to be.

The same process that makes AA so effective—the power of a group to teach individuals how to believe—happens whenever people come together to help one another change. Belief is easier when it occurs within a community.

The brain has this amazing ability to find happiness even when the memories of it are gone.

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.

At some point, if you're changing a really deep-seated behavior, you're going to have a moment of weakness.