Most of humanity, he said, have eyes that are so caked shut with the dust of deception they will never see the truth, no matter who tries to help them.

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.

Marriage is - among other things - a study in contradiction and disappointment, and inside that reality there is space for us to truly learn how to love.

That is who Barack Obama is - a person of admirable character - and that is who he has remained for me over these last four years. I have not agreed with his every decision, but never once have I seen him break his cool, lose his composure, or abandon his insightful perspective - even during the most serious and/or absurd national disasters.

Marriage becomes hard work once you have poured the entirety of your life’s expectations for happiness into the hands of one mere person. Keeping that going is hard work.

Your home is that thing to which you can dedicate your energies with such singular devotion that the ultimate results become inconsequential.

That's what we're all sort of trying to do in our lives - to make the simplest things work out the best.