When those closest to us respond to events differently than we do, when they seem to see the same scene as part of a different play, when they say things that we could not imagine saying in the same circumstances, the ground on which we stand seems to tremble and our footing is suddenly unsure.

False dichotomies are often at the heart of discord.

In dialogue, there is opposition, yes, but no head-on collision. Smashing heads does not open minds.

Life is a matter of dealing with other people, in little matters and cataclysmic ones, and that means a series of conversations.

Cooperation isn't the absence of conflict but a means of managing conflict.

Words can be like weapons of destruction: It takes so much effort, and the cooperation of so many people, to build something - and so little effort of so few to tear it down.

Treating people the same is not equal treatment if they are not the same.