A world of contradictions, wherein everything is gray and almost nothing is black and white.

Anyone who has lived through it, or those who are now living through it, knows that caring about an addict is as complex and fraught and debilitating as addiction itself.

I didn't cause it. I can't control it. I can't cure it.

How can both Nics, the loving and considerate and generous one, and the self-obsessed and self-destructive one, be the same person?

I'm not sure if I know any 'functional' families, if functional means a family without difficult times and members who don't have a full range of problems.

The hopeful part about that is when you do have that help, you will feel better. It still doesn't make this easy. Nothing makes this easy, but you can make better decisions.

An alcoholic will steal your wallet and lie to you. A drug addict will steal your wallet and then help you look for it.

We deny the severity of our loved one's problem not because we are naive, but because we can't know.

Wherever you be, wherever you may, seek the truth, strive for the beautiful, achieve the good.

How innocent we are of our mistakes and how we responsible we are for them.

Along with the joy of parenthood, with every child comes a piercing vulnerability. It is at once sublime and terrifying

Only the brave know how to forgive. ... A coward never forgave it is not in his nature.

I love being manipulated by what I see. I love weepies and romantic comedies where you're reaching for the Kleenex at the right moment.

I keep up the tradition, the zydeco.

The trick in life is not to die. The trick in investing is not to lose.

Dragons old and young, true and false, bright and dark. And you. A small man with a big shadow, snarling in the midst of all.

Work, hard work, intelligent work, and then more work.

You never want to be completely alone at what you do. Competition is good for everyone.

The ninety percent of human experience that does not fit into established narrative patterns falls into oblivion.

We know that it's hard enough being a teenager. It's particularly hard being a teenager who's coming out.

If the rain spoils our picnic, but saves a farmer's crop, who are we to say it shouldn't rain?