Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. The older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Linda Tripp has shown that a true friend is an archivist, a biographer.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft

In twenty years you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.

The secret to happiness, at Thanksgiving or any time, is to reframe obligation as opportunity. You don't have to spend Thanksgiving with your family. You get to.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

Replace the words "have to" with "get to" and watch how the cold rain on your life changes to sunshine.