About this quote

A sudden familiarity often comes from your attention matching small cues—voice, posture, a private look—before your mind names them. Have you felt that odd ease with a stranger and wondered what clicked? When it happens, stop and notice the detail that triggered the feeling, then try a short question or a bit of conversation. Move forward from curiosity, not assumption; see if the ease turns into a real connection or just a passing echo.

When to use it

• At a startup demo day, someone leans over to ask about my project and I laugh, 'Why is it I feel I've known you so many years?'
• In the campus lab, my new lab partner hands me a pipette and I say, 'Why is it I feel I've known you so many years?'
• Coming out of the subway near my old neighborhood, a neighbor smiles and I blurt, 'Why is it I feel I've known you so many years?'
• After a pick-up soccer practice, a teammate I just met calls a play the same way I would and I grin, 'Why is it I feel I've known you so many years?'