Like many another romance, the romance of the family turns sour when the money runs out. If we really cared about families, we would not let 'born again' patriarchs send up moral abstractions as a smokescreen for the scandal of American family economics.

Illness is the proving ground of friendship.

Friends seem to be like aspirin; we don't really know why they make a sick person feel better, but they do.

What I often say to people who are quick to say I’m not a feminist is if you think you’re not a feminist, give it all back.

I feel about mothers the way I feel about dimples: because I do not have one myself, I notice everyone who does.

Control is a big issue when you're sick. It's the first thing you lose - other losses come later.

Why hope to live a long life if we're only going to fill it with self-absorption, body maintenance and image repair? When we die, do we want people to exclaim 'She looked ten years younger,' or do we want them to say 'She lived a great life'?