Kim Quindlen

Sometimes people will ask you how many times you’ve cried in the last year, as if you’re going to pull out a journal that lists the date and time of every breakdown you’ve had in the last 12 months.

Because weddings have been ingrained in our minds as the climax of our existence. The most important day of our lives. The greatest thing we will ever do… instead of what they really are.

She doesn’t want anything to do with this. She hates the situation and she hates herself in this moment. She wishes more than anything that she could trade places with you.

When you go to Target, are you capable of spending under $50? If the answer is yes, I don’t trust you.

Sex is an important part of any relationship.

You want to feel loved. And cared for. You want there to be someone out there who misses you. But you’re looking for validation in the wrong places. You’re not going to feel more alive and less invisible just because someone kisses you a few times and tells you they missed you.

She’s scared, because having someone and then not suddenly not having them is a lot scarier than being alone.

I don’t care what your friends think or what your parents think or what your coworker thinks.

1. Sometimes you feel like you are the reluctant source of entertainment when you’re hanging out with your friends. It often feels like they’re all just sitting there waiting for you to say or do something ridiculous.

Cling to it, to the fact that you don’t know who you are. Don’t try to make a drastic change in order to figure it out. We’re never really going to know who we are because we’re always changing.

What They Say: I like to drink wine.
What They Mean: I like to drink wine and it’s extremely important that you never forget that.

What They Say: Nothing, for three days at a time.

We put 100% of ourselves into everything we do. That includes relationships. If we’re in a relationship with you, we’re going to make damn sure that we give it our all.

If you want a career and a big family, people give you looks as if you’re crazy.

I only want to do this once.

You constantly feel vulnerable, and not in a good way.

The remote. Because after a long and miserable day, it’s the only thing you want to come home to.

You keep telling yourself you’ll do this when you’re older, and then one day you realize that you are older.