We tend to look through language and not realize how much power language has

It's our tendency to approach every problem as if it were a fight between two sides. We see it in headlines that are always using metaphors for war. It's a general atmosphere of animosity and contention that has taken over our public discourse.

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

The biggest mistake is believing there is one right way to listen, to talk, to have a conversation - or a relationship.

It can be the best of relationships and the worst of relationships - often at the same time. The bond between a mother and daughter is one of the strongest, but it's also among the most complicated.

[T]he seeds of [the Argument Culture] can be found our classrooms, where a teacher will introduce an article or an idea . . . setting up debates where people learn not to listen to each other because they're so busy trying to win the debate.

False dichotomies are often at the heart of discord.