Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life

by Rory Sutherland

TVs are designed around how we see, not what they show.

In translation, it is an enormous mistake to assume that what the translator conveys is what the speaker intended, and it is equally foolish to assume that what you intended to say is what will be understood.

Perception may map neatly on to behaviour, but reality does not map neatly onto perception.

In some cases it might be better to do good by stealth, particularly if the number of buyers who care about the environment may be outnumbered by those who don’t.

one way you can improve your happiness is by learning that such an illusion exists, and by controlling what you pay attention to.

Conventional wisdom about human decision-making has always held that our attitudes drive our behaviour, but evidence strongly suggests that the process mostly works in reverse: the behaviours we adopt shape our attitudes.

it is easier to get fired for being illogical than for being unimaginative.

Our brains present us with a view that is the best-calibrated to improve our evolutionary fitness rather than the most accurate.

There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, “I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.” To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: “If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.”’

‘Chesterton’s fences’.