Maybe the trying is the thing. Maybe it doesn't get better than that. Maybe you never quite get there. And maybe that's okay.

I think men should be able to veto women's abortions if they're willing to care for the child after it's born.

...the horrific fact that our lives and those of the people we love are impermanent and exquisitely fragile, that any of us can cease to exist without warning, that loving anyone, anywhere, at any time, leaves you infinitely vulnerable at every single moment. (20)

Most children would rather preserve the fantasy of a loving connection with their fathers and mothers, at all costs, even if it costs them their self-esteem. When you're three or seven years old, it's less frightening to think of yourself as an unlovable, disappointing screwup than to recognize the fact that you're living with a monster.

But insight doesn't necessarily produce self-control. Sometimes you just see your destructiveness more clearly.

The roots of any evil deed can be traced to the perpetrator's refusal to experience pain.

A jealous husband is an ugly thing.