“After all, you have a lot going for you if you’re willing to commit to learning the fox trot when you hate dancing, or giving up your cherished Saturday-morning run for a regular bedroom session of holding hands naked while staring into each other’s eyes (and seeing where that leads).”— Daniel Jones, nytimes.com
“I listened, rapt, as professional trainers explained how they taught dolphins to flip and elephants to paint. Eventually it hit me that the same techniques might work on that stubborn but lovable species, the American husband.”— Amy Sutherland, nytimes.com
“You can't expect a baboon to learn to flip on command in one session, just as you can't expect an American husband to begin regularly picking up his dirty socks by praising him once for picking up a single sock.”— Amy Sutherland, nytimes.com
“The truth feels like the biggest sucker-punch of them all: it’s not a spouse or land or a job or money that brings us happiness. Those achievements, those relationships, can enhance our happiness, yes, but happiness has to start from within.”— Laura A. Munson, nytimes.com
“Stepping onto a brand-new path is difficult, but not more difficult than remaining in a situation, which is not nurturing to the whole woman.”— Maya Angelou, goodreads.com
“The present changes the past. Looking back you do not find what you left behind.”— Kiran Desai, amazon.com
“You can't stop the future You can't rewind the past The only way to learn the secret ...is to press play.”— Jay Asher, amazon.com
“The most helpful advice I can give you is to work hard. Take it or leave it.”— Grace Helbig, amazon.com
“Work hard, know your shit, show your shit, and then feel entitled. Listen to no one except the two smartest and kindest adults you know, and that doesn't always mean your parents. If you do that, you will be fine.”— Mindy Kaling, amazon.com
“Bad relationships are the ones filled with drama. The highs are higher and the lows are lower. When I say ‘bad relationship,’ I mean everything from a toxic, codependent situation to a relationship with a man who won’t commit in a significant way, to a match that is simply incompatible.”— Sabrina Alexis, amazon.com
“Men are not responsive to nagging or criticism, but they can be enormously receptive— and appreciative— when you tell them what makes you happy in a loving way.”— Sabrina Alexis, amazon.com
“Sometimes you’ll feel unloved, insecure, angry. Sometimes you’ll want to just run, and sometimes you’ll feel really lonely, and that will surprise you, because how can you be lonely in the company of someone who truly loves you?”— Sabrina Alexis, amazon.com
“Here’s the thing that no one really tells you: good relationships don’t always feel all that good… but it’s not for the same reason bad relationships feel bad.”— Sabrina Alexis, amazon.com
“Instead of focusing on what your partner should be doing, try to look at what he is doing right in the relationship and show appreciation for those things. The more your man feels appreciated, the more he’ll want to do to make you happy.”— Sabrina Alexis, amazon.com
“Happiness isn’t something you get from a relationship (although a relationship can certainly add to your level of happiness), it’s something that spills into your relationship.”— Sabrina Alexis, amazon.com
“There are many ways to keep the lust alive in your relationship, you’ll probably discover them all by just thinking about how things were in the beginning of your relationship, back when you were overcome by a magnetic force of physical attraction.”— Sabrina Alexis, amazon.com
“...what we call ‘love at first sight’ is really intense lust and desire coupled with the recognition that there is the potential to create something meaningful with this other person.”— Sabrina Alexis, amazon.com
“You can be totally perfect for one another, you can love each other like crazy, you can be wildly attracted to one another, you can even be soul mates, and you will still have to work at it.”— Sabrina Alexis, amazon.com