This is what intimacy does to us over time. That's what a long marriage can do: It causes us to inherit and trade each other's stories. (p.237)

My life acccomplishments? Sanity, and you

Well, just remember--all your misery will be waiting for you at the door upon your exit, should you care to pick it up again when you leave.

I equal parts loved him and could not stand him. I couldn't wake him to share in my distress.

Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it. You must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it.

There's nothing special about your fear.

How could two people who were so in love not end up happily ever after? It had to work. Didn’t it?