Women are raised to be the nurturers and steadiers of rocked boats, to hold relationships in place as if our lives depended on it. But it shores up your own dignity and integrity if you're able to say, "There are a million things I love about you, and I want our relationship to continue. I forgive you 95 percent, but not this 5 percent."

We commonly confuse closeness with sameness and view intimacy as the merging of two separate I's into one worldview.

Differences don’t just threaten and divide us. They also inform, enrich, and enliven us.

Feeling inadequate is an occupational hazard of motherhood.

We'll always be disappointed if we believe that we can plan for a peak experience and make it happen. True joy can't be anticipated or planned. It just strikes.

Believing that all women should want to be mothers makes about as much sense as believing that all men should want to be engineers.

Being in touch with our bodies, or more accurately, being our bodies, is how we know what is true. Harriet