You know why I think we still execute people? Because, even if we don't want to say it out loud-for the really heinous crimes, we want to know that there's a really heinous punishment. Simple as that. We want to bring society closer together-huddle and circle our wagons-and that means getting rid of people we think are incapable of learning a moral lesson. I guess the question is: Who gets to identify those people? And what if, God forbid, they got it wrong?

My grandmother told me that her father used to ask her a riddle: What must you break apart in order to bring a family close together? Bread, of course.

It's disappointing to know that someone can see right through you.

Sometimes, all it takes to become human again is someone who can see you that way, no matter how you present on the surface.

Did you ever walk through a room that's packed with people, and feel so lonely you can hardly take the next step?

If you focus on sandbagging the beachhead, you can ignore the tsunami that's approaching. Try it any other way and you'll go crazy.

What we all want, really, is to be loved. That craving drives our worst behavior.