I'm going to take a guess here and assume that many of you don't know how to tie these knots so I figured I would share with you all a link to a website that has very easy, step-by-step instructions for tying all kinds of knots. It is called Knots by Grogg, and I hope it helps:
http://www.animatedknots.com/
Also, I might be a bit biased becuase of the fact that I sail, but I do think that the bowline and the figure eight knots are superior. Both are good becuase if you should need to retie them or change the location of the knot, they are very easy to untie, but also hold exceptionally well. Additionally, they are fairly easy to learn as compared to some of the other mentioned knots.