“At the heart of an affair, you will often find a longing and a yearning for an emotional connection, for novelty, for freedom, for autonomy, for sexual intensity, a wish to recapture lost parts of ourselves or an attempt to bring back vitality in the face of loss and tragedy.”— Esther Perel, ted.com
“Adultery has existed since human beings began entering into relationships”— Dawn Serra, dawnserra.com
“Happiness plays more of a role with women, who are in fact a lot likelier to cheat if they feel lonely in their marriage or partnership.”— Ellie Zolfagharifard, dailymail.co.uk
“If a person values self-gratification more than the intimacy they gain from a relationship, then they will stop sacrificing for the relationship and are likely to end up cheating.”— Mark Manson, markmanson.net
“The nature of a person’s employment is also related to infidelity—individuals whose work involves touching other people, having personal discussions, or a great deal of one-on-one time are more likely to have an affair.”— Kelly Campbell, psychologytoday.com
“Men are more likely than women to commit infidelity, largely because men have more testosterone, which is responsible for the strong desire to have sex.”— Kelly Campbell, psychologytoday.com
“Spouses cheat because of problems in their relationship. Something is missing, passion has faded, partners feel lonely, a partner finds someone who treats them better or who appreciates them more than their current spouse, and so on.”— Truth About Deception, truthaboutdeception.com
“What we wanted out of our sex life was very different. We had some issues in our relationship that had been slowly pushing us apart.”— Adam, glamour.com
“I cheated on my girlfriend because I could. I never had a lot of sexual options through high school and college, but after school, I really hit my stride. For the first time, women were hitting on me, and I was drunk on the feeling.”— D.H, glamour.com
“She knew, even though she was too young to know the reason, that indiscriminate desire and unselective indulgence were possible only to those who regarded sex and themselves as evil.”— Ayn Rand, amazon.com
“When a man cheats, it is said it is because he is a dog. When a woman cheats, it is said it is because her man is a dog.”— Mokokoma Mokhonoana, amazon.com
“I tried to tell myself I was hurting Bennett, hurting myself, making a spectacle of myself. I was. But nothing helped. I was possessed. The minute he walked into a room and smiled at me, I was a goner.”— Erica Jong, amazon.com
“So when a secret affair is revealed, it’s devastating, destructive, and something we all would like to avoid -- but it’s also a moment that can make us finally, fully honest about what’s been missing, and what’s worth saving.”— Anna Sale, wnyc.org
“My husband and I had been together for so long and I came to realize that he in a lot of ways had stopped paying attention. I think to a certain extent we were both sort of invisible to each other.”— Sheri, wnyc.org
“It became more painful to not do it and to just test the waters and say, maybe this is the only guy that I’ll ever be in love with and for me to deny myself that -- that would be terrible.”— Ali, wnyc.org
“Having an affair seems like such a big decision. Of course, it’s really a series of small choices.”— Anna Sale, wnyc.org
“People who have affairs just want to find some real happiness and love in their lives.”— Mira Kirshenbaum, amazon.com