As a rule of thumb in negotiations, never ask the barber if you need a haircut; instead, seek counsel from an impartial advisor.

I just discovered a shortcut I hadn't noticed before — you learn something new every day.

She owns more than you can shake a stick at shoes, filling every shelf in her closet.

Before she sent any personal letters from the office, her grandmother would warn her, you don't dip your pen in the inkwell, reminding her not to mix personal affairs with company resources.

The lights came back on before you can say Jack Robinson.

thank you for coming to my TED Talk, but seriously, let's focus on solutions.

As the old office proverb goes, you don't fish off the company pier.

At the family reunion, I asked my cousin, "how many siblings do you have," because we were trying to map our family tree.

When meeting a classmate for the first time, I asked, 'do you have any brothers or sisters' to learn about their family background.

At the party he suddenly asked what kind of music do you like and we ended up chatting about our favorite bands.