School success is not predicted by a child's fund of facts or a precocious ability to read as much as by emotional and social measures; being self-assured and interested: knowing what kind of behavior is expected and how to rein in the impulse to misbehave; being able to wait, to follow directions, and to turn to teachers for help; and expressing needs while getting along with other children.

Empathy represents the foundation skill for all the social competencies important for work.

Compassion begins with attention.

We should spend less time ranking children and more time helping them to identify their natural competencies and gifts, and cultivate those.

There is perhaps no psychological skill more fundamental than resisting impulse.

The more socially intelligent you are, the happier and more robust and more enjoyable your relationships will be.

Research shows that for jobs of all kinds, emotional intelligence is twice as important an ingredient of outstanding performance as cognitive ability and technical skill combined.