Every country has its cocktail-party question. A simple one-sentence query, the answer to which unlocks a motherlode of … - Eric Weiner

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You dislike the emancipation proclamation; and, perhaps, would have it retracted. You say it is unconstitutional - I think differently.

Eric Weiner

Every country has its cocktail-party question. A simple one-sentence query, the answer to which unlocks a motherlode of information about the person you just met. . . . In Switzerland it is, Where are you from? That is all you need to know about someone.

Country, Know, Met, Party, Question, Simple

Same Author Quotes

what doesn't kill you not only make you stronger, but also more honest.

Honest, Kill, Make, Makes You Stronger, Stronger

Perhaps it's true you can't go back in time, but you can return to the scene of a love, of a crime, of happiness, and of a fateful decision; the places are what remain, are what you can possess, are what is immortal.

Back, Decision, Love, Return, Travel

[Happiness is] a ghost, it’s a shadow. You can’t really chase it. It’s a by-product, a very pleasant side effect to a life lived well.

Chase, Effect, Ghost, Happiness, Shadow, Sides

Psychologists call it "defocused attention," where you broaden your horizons, let your mind float and drift a bit. Coffee keeps us sharp and alert. It's great if you're driving at 3 o'clock in the morning. It's not so great if you're trying to come up with the next violin concerto.

Coffee, Float, Horizons, Mind, Morning, Psychologists

Money matters but less than we think and not in the way that we think. Family is important. So are friends. Envy is toxic. So is excessive thinking. Beaches are optional. Trust is not. Neither is gratitude.

Beach, Envy, Gratitude, Matters, Money, Thinking