Quotes About Connection

You are the most amazing woman I've ever known, Merry Knight, and I'm crazy about you and that dimple of yours.

If more people knitted and crocheted, the world would see fewer wars and a whole lot less road rage.

Women who can't be close to their husbands have a propensity to develop a self-absorbing, spiritual intimacy with spiritual leaders—be they men or women.

That is the bane of speakeasy life. You ring up your friend the next morning to find out whether he is still alive.

At the end, in Harry's handiwork, there's nothing sentimental about love, no sunlit clouds and glory notes – it's a substantial, earthbound connection, grounded in effort, kindness and decency. Learning to love, Harry liked to say, is really about learning to live. Perhaps everyday affection seems a small facet of love. Perhaps, though, it is the modest, steady responses that see us through day after day, that stretch into a life of close and loving relationships.

The part of me that's me is gone. I'm just part of this line of people. There's no me left. I'm nothing.

You will find that the past is still very much alive down here.

He pulled her against his chest, letting her feel his heart thunder its rhythm. Kissing her hair he whispered, the desperation raw, You are no dream...but flesh and blood. Tell me you are real...oh, please...be real. Aye, I am real.

To ache so deeply now for Nana gave the older woman's life profound meaning. It was a privilege to mourn such a loss because it meant you had loved and been loved.

What do you call love, then? Someone I can't live without.

There are people nobody notices, but the world revolves around them. They're the quiet ones, the strong, peaceful ones, who form the unbreakable hub for a bunch of fragile spokes. True families aren't bred, they're spun together. And at their center, at the center of the infinite wheel of every family of every kind, blood or otherwise, there is a hub, that person, those people, who hold the wheel together and keep it turning.

I don't ask for guarantees. I'll tell you what I want. I want to laugh with you. Sit and look at you. Wake up with nothing to think about but how warm and smooth you feel against me. Make a life together. All of this has been worth it if we can have that.

how getting into the habit of feeling comfortable turning to her network to ask for help has made her more effective:

The truth is, most people don't want advice—they want empathy and compassion.

Showing genuine interest is flattering and essential to conversing. If you are interested in how I lost sixtyfive pounds or how I started my business or anything else about me, I feel special. I also think positively about you and want to continue talking with you. The more interest you show in me, the more interesting you become to me. The simple act of truly being interested in the other person has an amazing effect on the conversation — it just snowballs!

The key is to have a genuine interest in what the other person is saying, along with a genuine desire to hear the response. So while you get to be quiet, you do not get to be passive. You must actively participate in the conversation.

If another person is friendly to me, I find it easy to be friendly back. However, I don't wait to make sure the other person is friendly before I'm friendly in return.

Last but not least, you can notice and compliment someone else's behavior. This is the best way to converse with kids. Instead of noticing when they do something wrong, try celebrating positive behavior. It'll go a long way toward furthering communication with them and deepening your bond.

No matter what your chosen topic of conversation, I cannot overstate the importance of being authentic when talking with someone. If you are not genuinely interested in what the other person is saying, no amount of planning or preparation will save you from a doomed conversation. Interest in someone else cannot be feigned.

Sergeant Jack Riley and his wife. They were closer to

My friends stood on the ground two feet below me, and miles away from understanding why I would want to sleep on a trailer platform... I couldn't possibly begin to explain what was only beginning to bud inside me: I wanted a home. I wanted to be at home, in the world and in my body (a feeling I had been missing since I'd woken up in the hospital) and somehow, in some as yet undefined way, I knew that windows in the great room and a skylight over my bed were going to help with that.

I wanted to say a lot but wasn't sure where to start; people don't want to hear about how your heart has melted into the dirt under your house.

He might be starving, but he ate when the meal was ready, and with her, not while she was still draining the pasta.

Do you think you can cause something to happen just from wanting it so much?' she asked. 'I don't get what you mean. Does this have to do with your dad?' asked Frannie. 'Not really. I'm talking about loneliness.' Frannie turned around and considered her answer. For awhile she seemed to be in a wilderness of her own. 'Do you mean that you imagined that Issy was your friend?' 'Yes, so completely that it was real.' 'Oh, that can happen. I believe that totally. Loneliness is powerful.