Given that life is so short, do I really want to spend one-ninetieth of my remaining days on earth reading Edward Gibbon?

Modern marriage is first and foremost a romantic and private union, but the tax laws and inheritance laws and religious implications that still surround this institution indicate that marriage has evolved without casting away its earlier purposes or assumptions. It's like we just keep building on this thing, piling new advancements on the old model.

I am determined to make the most of this life that I have, damn it - it's that kind of stubbornness I think we all need more of.

When the past has passed from you at last, let go. Then climb down and begin the rest of your life. With great joy.

A true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life.

the four virtues a person needs in order to be safe and happy in life: intelligence, friendship, strength and (I love this one) poetry.

My mom is a master gardener and I grew up on a farm. I came back to it really late in life and discovered that despite how lazy and inattentive I was as a child, I had managed to accidentally learn quite a bit about gardening.