We act like a zero-sum society, when in reality there is a lot of non zero-sum fat to be skimmed off to everyone's mutual advantage.

the mediation of internal conflicts can be resolved by linkages with other problems.

A final word of advice: don't gloat about how well you have done.

Disputants often fare poorly when they each act greedily and deceptively.

The art of compromise centers on the willingness to give up something in order to get something else in return. Successful artists get more than they give up.

A mediator is an impartial outsider who tries to aid the negotiators in their quest to find a compromise agreement.

The best practical advice then is: try to maximize your expected payoff, which is the sum of all payoffs multiplied by probabilities.

Ideas are incestuous.

A lot depends on the starting point.

The party that negotiates in haste is often at a disadvantage.

Advice: don't embarrass your bargaining partner by forcing him or her to make all the concessions.

Rejection isn't a sign of failure. Rejection is a reminder that there's always room for improvement.

I know by now, only too well, that you can never get away from yourself because you never go away.

The music of memory has its own pitch, /which not everyone hears.

He glared at Mr. Diddley’s yellow-toothed smile, and thought how he’d like to shove a toothbrush in his mouth and teach him how to use it.

When I was seven years old, I was leading a quartet and trio, and that really laid the groundwork for me as a musician.

I don't let myself 'surf' on the Web, or I would probably drown.

You make decisions and decisions will make you.

I like to tell students, 'I didn't burst on to the literary scene.' I'm never good at things at the beginning. I was terrible at the start. I need to work and work.

Knowing what's right doesn't mean much unless you do what's right.

All the ancient histories, as one of our wits say, are just fables that have been agreed upon