Across all genders, age groups and ethnicities, rank of "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get" on the list of movie lines that most reflect people's life philosophy, according to the DDB Life Style Study: 1

Ranks of "There's no place like home" from "The Wizard of Oz" (21 percent), "Carpe diem" -- Seize the day -- from "Dead Poets Society" (8 percent) and "Get busy livin' or get busy dyin'" from "The Shawshank Redemption": 2, 3, 4

Source: DDB.

When asked how much a car dealer makes as profit on the sale of a $40,000 vehicle, percentage of respondents who answered $4,000 or greater (a profit of 10 percent or more), according to TrueCar's Online Automotive Buying Behavior Report: 55

In reality, percentage profit a dealer makes on each new car sold: 1 to 3

Source: TrueCar Inc.

Percentage of U.S. households with a net worth between $5 million and $25 million -- not including the primary residence -- that say they are likely to purchase equities over the next 12 months, according to a report released by Spectrem Group: 52

Average cash balances, including money market funds, checking, savings, Treasury bills and CDs in ultra-high net-worth households at the end of 2010: $659,000

Percentage of their investable assets that this represents: 10

Source: Spectrem Group.

Percentage of Americans who have more emergency savings than they do credit card debt, according to a poll conducted for Bankrate.com: 52

Percentage who have more credit card debt than emergency savings: 23

Percentage who have neither -- which means they're one unplanned expense away from having high-cost debt: 19

Source: Bankrate.com.

Percentage of American adults who say they have a favorable opinion of unions that represent workers at private companies, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press: 48

Percentage who say they have a favorable opinion of unions that represent people who work for state or local governments: 48

Percentage of people who say that when they hear of a dispute between unions and business their first reaction is to side with business: 43

Percentage whose first reaction is to side with unions: 40

Source: Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

Percentage of dentists who say women professionally whiten their teeth more than men, according to a survey conducted for the Chicago Dental Society's 146th annual Midwinter Meeting: 60

Percentage of dentists who report that basketball was the sport that resulted in the most dental injuries for their patients: 30

Percentage who said hockey: 20

Percentage of dentists who think that smiles are getting so perfect that they look artificial: 50

Source: Chicago Dental Society.

Though toothpicks have been used throughout history by both civilized and primitive cultures, year that the first toothpick-making machine was developed by Charles Forster in Boston, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1869

Year that Silas Noble patented a similar machine that is still in use today: 1872

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of renters who are looking for a bigger apartment, according to apartments.com: 13.3

Percentage who are shopping for a less expensive apartment: 9.7

Percentage who are moving due to rent increases: 6.7

Percentage who want to live in a safer neighborhood: 5.7

Source: Apartments.com.

Ranks of North Dakota, Washington, D.C., South Dakota and Alaska on the list of the areas with the best job markets in 2010, according to the Gallup Job Creation Index 2010: 1, 2, 3, 4

Ranks of Nevada, New Jersey, California and Oregon on the list of places with the worst job markets: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: Gallup.

Compared to other planning activities, percentage of pre-retirees who are calculating the effects of inflation on their retirement planning, according to a report from the Society of Actuaries: 72

Percentage of retirees who are making the same calculation: 55

Source: Society of Actuaries.

Idle Thought

"I have gained this by philosophy: that I do without being commanded what others do only from fear of the law." -- Aristotle

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

Ranks of Iran, North Korea, China and Afghanistan on the list of countries Americans are most likely to mention as being the United States' greatest enemy: 1, 2 (tie), 4

Source: Gallup.

Percentage of first-time managers who were actually groomed for the job, according to a study from Development Dimensions International: 10

Percentage of new managers who don't understand what it takes to succeed: 42

Percentage who took the role for an increase in compensation: 50

Percentage who actually wanted to lead others: 23

Source: Development Dimensions International.

When Americans were asked whether trends such as more births to single parents, more unmarried couples living together, more gay or lesbian couples raising children and more interracial marriages were acceptable changes, percentage who generally accept the changes, according to a report from the Pew Research Center: 31

Percentage who reject virtually every trend that the "accepters" tolerate or endorse: 32

Percentage who, while generally sharing most of the tolerant views of the "accepters," also express concern about the impact of these trends on society: 37

Source: Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends.

Percentage of baby boomer clients who have postponed retirement due to the economic downturn, according to CPA financial planners surveyed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants: 50

Average number of years longer that they expect to work than they originally planned: 4

Source: American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Percentage of human resources managers who said technology etiquette breaches can affect a person's career prospects, according to a poll by Robert Half International: 76

Source: Robert Half International.

When asked if they love, hate or are indifferent toward their job, percentage of U.S. employees who reported that they love their job, according to an Ipsos Public Affairs-Randstad survey: 55

Percentage who say they hate it: 8

Percentage who are indifferent: 37

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Amount of IBM Jeopardy! Challenge prize money to be donated to World Community Grid to fund global research that benefits humanity, according to IBM: $500,000

Number of personal computers from 535,000 volunteers in more than 80 countries by which the World Community Grid works by pooling the unused power: 1.7 million

Source: IBM Watson.

Year that a dairy cow named "Elm Farm Olli" became the first bovine passenger to fly in an airplane as part of the St. Louis International Air Exposition, where she was milked during the flight and the milk was parachuted to the ground in paper containers, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1930

Today, number of milk cows in the U.S. -- most of them permanently grounded: 9.2 million

Estimated number of pounds of milk they produce annually: 190 billion

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of Americans who agree that to jump-start investment and maintain U.S. competitiveness, the federal government should provide guarantees backing loans for building solar, wind, advanced-design nuclear power plants or other energy technology that reduces greenhouse gases, according to a survey conducted by Bisconti Research Inc./GfK Roper for the Nuclear Energy Institute: 79

Number of states where nuclear power plants operate: 31

Percentage of all U.S. electricity that is provided by these plants: 20

Source: Nuclear Energy Institute.

Percentage of small businesses that reported they are in a better financial position than one year ago, but that overall they remain cautious in recruitment plans, according to a nationwide survey from CareerBuilder: 51

Percentage of small businesses that plan to add full-time, permanent headcount in 2011: 21

Percentage of small businesses that expect to decrease full-time, permanent headcount: 6

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Idle Thought

"It is better to prevent crimes than to punish them." -- Cesare Beccaria, philosopher and politician (1738-1794)

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

Percentage of Americans who are more likely to name China than the United States as the leading economic power in the world today, according to a Gallup Poll: 52

Percentage who named America as the leading economic power: 32

Percentage who named Japan: 7

Source: Gallup.

Percentage of people who say they prefer to make a date via e-mail, text message or social networking instead of the old-fashioned phone call, according to Zagat's 2011 Dating & Dumping survey: 34

In contrast, in 2009, percentage of respondents who preferred to initiate a date in person: 53

Today, percentage of respondents who confessed to "Googling" a prospective date: 52

Source: Zagat.

Estimated percentage of restaurants that are now owned by women, according to research from the National Restaurant Association: 50

Percentage increase in Hispanic ownership of restaurants in the past five years: 42

Source: National Restaurant Association.

Ranks of reducing debt (28 percent) and boosting savings (21 percent) on the list of Americans' financial priorities, according to a Country Financial survey: 1, 2

Percentage of Americans who currently do not utilize a household budget: 49

Percentage who say they rely on credit to pay their monthly bills: 13

Source: Country Financial.

Percentage of advertising and marketing executives who said hugging colleagues is at least somewhat common in the United States, according to a national survey developed by The Creative Group: 30

Percentage of executives who said embracing co-workers in a business setting is inappropriate: 70

Source: The Creative Group.

Percentage of high school students who think it's their responsibility to help fund their college education, according to a survey of 16- and 17-year-olds headed for higher education, according to a study by the College Savings Foundation: 72

Percentage who are planning to use their own funds to pay for college: 65

Percentage who will cover more than one-quarter of their college costs, compared to 52 percent last year: 58

Source: College Savings Foundation.

Estimated percentage of today's college students who hold jobs, according to a survey released by Cengage Learning: 50

Percentage of students who report being distracted by external responsibilities, such as raising families or by financial issues, including paying for school or debt: 30

Source: Cengage Learning.

Percentage of consumers who are looking for products that are healthy, according to the BrandSpark and Better Homes and Gardens American Shopper Study: 80

Percentage of consumers who are trying to reduce their consumption of processed foods: 70

Percentage who are looking for food products that can reduce the risk of major health issues: 60

Source: Better Homes and Gardens.

Percentage of American taxpayers who plan to spend their anticipated federal and state tax refunds on vacations -- up dramatically from 16 percent when a similar poll was first taken in 2006 -- according to a survey commissioned by Taxsoftware.com: 30

Percentage of Americans who expect to receive tax refunds: 59

Source: Taxsoftware.com.

When comparing large cities with red-light cameras to those without, percentage reduction in the fatal red-light-running crash rate, according to a 2011 study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: 24

Percentage reduction in the rate of all types of fatal crashes at signalized intersections attributed to these devices: 17.6

Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Idle Thought

"Nothing is so firmly believed as what is least known." -- Michel de Montaigne, essayist

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)