Critiquing relieves you of the responsibility of doing integrative thinking.

In an ongoing relationship, each current criticism packs the punches of all the others that have gone before.

But if you parry individuals points - a negative and defensive enterprise - you never step back and actively imagine a world in which a different system of ideas could be true - a positive act.

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

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.

Public discourse requires making an argument for a point of view, not having an argument - as in having a fight.

The allure of love is to have someone who knows you so well that you don't have to explain yourself. It is the promise of someone who cares enough about you to protect you against the world of strangers who do not wish you well.