When people are really drunk they have a propensity to harm themselves and others - they fall off buildings, they drive into other cars.

I have this wonderful capacity just to walk away from my mistakes and not dwell on them.

My inbox [showed me] how much pain there is in the world. I appreciated hearing from people, but it was hard to know I couldn't do anything.

I've never gotten a letter where I thought I knew the person. But I have heard from people who think they know the letter writer.

People who have undergone a loss get a fair amount of leeway on their behavior.

Most women at some point or many points in their lives will have to deal with an unwanted advance and having the confidence to be "rude" and say no is an important skill to develop.

The sadness from reading letters that you know you can't help because it's a person who's in extremis and their problems are not soluble by an advice column.