Gregariousness as Deal Pipeline

“MY greatest asset, possibly, has been that, in my everyday life since I came to Britain, I have gone out of my way to meet and to get to know a lot of people. Because I have few inhibitions I have been able freely to make friends with all manner of people, people who have sought me out in my office or whom I have met at luncheons and official receptions and public dinners. Many of my friends think that I talk a lot, but I can also get others to talk. I think I proved this with Khrushchev and others equally eminent, but I didn't confine my gregariousness and natural curiosity to the top ranks. I never counted it wasted time to meet someone new, however important or unimportant he might appear to be. I believed something could always be learned from a stranger. my”

“I try to make friends wherever I go and it is my fond belief that I usually succeed. The way I look at it, every- one has an idea and one in a dozen may be a good idea. If you have to talk to a dozen people to get one good idea, even just the glimmering of an idea, that isn't wasteful work. People are continually passing things on to me, because I have given them to believe that I will be interested, I might even pay for it! Sometimes, usually when it is least expected, something comes up that is touched with gold.”