All conversation, in addition to whatever else it does, displays, and asks for recognition of, our competence.

False dichotomies are often at the heart of discord.

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

To say that a person feels listened to means a lot more than just their ideas get heard. It's a sign of respect. It makes people feel valued.

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.

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.

All conversation, in addition to whatever else it does, displays, and asks for recognition of, our competence.