Michelle backstage, beautiful in white, squeezing my hand, gazing lovingly into my eyes, and telling me "Just don't screw it up, buddy!

His confidence was enviable and maddening. Most of the time she didn't want him to solve or contradict her worries, she just needed him to listen and agree with her on the awfulness at hand. This was a principle of marriage she'd explained many times.

Good people don't give up on the ones they love.

Always we walk each other home. And always we walk some of it alone.

I didn't wish to be comforted. "You can't replace people you love with other people," I said. "They're not like old shoes or something." "No. But you can trust that you're not going to run out of people to love.

This is why we have families.... So we never have to go a single day without worrying ourselves sick.

One other person can go a long way towards making your world right, she said, but the support has to run both ways. Saying love has to come from a strong place, not just grabbing whatever's in reach. You can't choose your family, but partner is your best shot at a decent do-over.

Most families would sooner forgive you for going to prison than for moving out of Lee County.

To retain those who are present, be loyal to those who are absent.

Creating the unity necessary to run an effective business or a family or a marriage requires great personal strength and courage. No amount of technical administrative skill in laboring for the masses can make up for lack of nobility of personal character in developing relationships. It is at a very essential, one-on-one level that we live the primary laws of love and life.

He continually made deposits into each of our 'emotional bank accounts' with one-on-one dates and modeled that 'in relationships

At one seminar where I was speaking on the concept of proactivity, a man came up and said, "Stephen, I like what you're saying. But every situation is so different. Look at my marriage. I'm really worried. My wife and I just don't have the same feelings for each other we used to have. I guess I just don't love her anymore and she doesn't love me. What can I do?" "The feeling isn't there anymore?" I asked.