The social brain is in its natural habitat when we're talking with someone face-to-face in real time.

Feelings are self-justifying, with a set of perceptions and "proofs" all their own.

Cognitive skills such as big-picture thinking and long-term vision were particularly important. But when I calculated the ratio of technical skills, IQ, and emotional intelligence as ingredients of excellent performance, emotional intelligence proved to be twice as important as the others for jobs at all levels.

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

There is perhaps no psychological skill more fundamental than resisting impulse. It is the root of all emotional self-control, since all emotions, by their very nature, lead to one or another impulse to act. The root meaning of the word emotion, remember, is "to move.

Whoever has the mind to fight has broken his connection with the universe. If you try to dominate people you are already defeated. We study how to resolve conflict, not how to start it.

A prerequisite to empathy is simply paying attention to the person in pain.