I never had any question that my parents loved me. I had a real sense of self confidence.

You West Virginia girls are one tough breed," he said. You got that right," I told him.

You can't cling to the side your whole life, that one lesson every parent needs to teach a child is "If you don't want to sink, you better figure out how to swim

Nobody's perfect. We're all just one step up from the beasts and one step down from the angels.

Fussing over children who cry only encourages them. That's positive reinforcement for negative behavior.

In this world, it's not enough to have a fine education. You need a piece of paper to prove you got it.

One time I saw a tiny Joshua tree sapling growing not too far from the old tree. I wanted to dig it up and replant it near our house. I told Mom that I would protect it from the wind and water it every day so that it could grow nice and tall and straight. Mom frowned at me. "You'd be destroying what makes it special," she said. "It's the Joshua tree's struggle that gives it its beauty.