The Empty Nest Is Underrated.

You Always Think That A Bolt Of Lightning Is Going To Strike And Your Parents Will Magically Change Into The People You Wish They Were, Or Back Into The People They Used To Be.

The Only Way To Learn Is To Keep Doing Something New, And, If You're Lucky, Learning With People Who Really Know How To Do It.

Maybe Young Women Don't Wonder Whether They Can Have It All Any Longer, But In Case Any Of You Are Wondering, Of Course You Can Have It All. It Will Be A Little Messy, But Embrace The Mess. It Will Be Complicated, But Rejoice In The Complications. It Will Not Be Anything Like What You Think It Will Be Like, But Surprises Are Good For You. And Don't Be Frightened: You Can Always Change Your Mind. I Know: I've Had Four Careers And Three Husbands.

When I Was Young, I Had A List Of Things That I Wanted In A Husband. I Knew What He Should Read And What Sports He Should Like And Blah, Blah, Blah. But The Truth Is, That The List Was A Shocking Mirror Image Of Me. You Want To Marry Yourself When You Are Young. All The Things You Think Are So Urgently Important, When You Get Older, You Discover They Don't Have Anything To Do With Love.

I've Just Surfaced From Spending Several Days In A State Of Rapture: I Was Reading A Book... I Felt Alive And Engaged And Positively Brilliant, Bursting With Ideas, Brimming With Memories Of Other Books I've Loved.