Contempt is special. If you can measure contempt, then all of a sudden you don’t need to know every detail of the couple’s relationship.
-- John Gottman (chapter 1 paragraph 31)

Importance: Psychologist and marriage counselor John Gottman identified “contempt” as the most telling emotion in a relationship that is doomed to fail. Once Gottman detected contempt in one of the marriage partners, he didn’t have to make assessments of the other emotions that the couple was experiencing.

It’s [the unconscious] shifting through the situation in front of us, throwing out all that is irrelevant while we zero in on what really matters. And the truth is that our unconscious is really good at this, to the point where thin-slicing often delivers a better answer than more deliberate an exhaustive ways of thinking.”
-- Author (chapter 1 paragraph 32)

Importance: This quote captures the premise of “Blink.” Allowing the subconscious to take the lead, cuts through the minutia and gets to...