by Helene C. Parker, Ph.D. with Doreen L. Virtue, Ph.D.

A healthy relationship stimulates both partners' individual growth. A functional relationship is not a fairy-tale type 'they lived happily ever after' scenario; it is subject to the same stresses and challenges inherent in any human partnership.

by H. Samm Coombs.

If there is a reward for longevity, it is paid out in the form of wisdom, a quality of consciousness that has little to do with intelligence/I.Q. or book learning. Being a by-product of experience, wisdom more often is possessed by men and women who have survived fifty or more winters.

by Beverly Hughley.

Good girlfriends have the knack of rescuing us at the right time, preventing our missteps, and saving our hides. As a forty-plus woman who's been duly blessed with a supportive circle of girlfriends, I can personally verify the aforementioned statement. To have a good friend, you must first be one.

by Roberta Maisel.

Giving advice is one of the points of greatest tension and conflict in our relations with our children. Parents want to help their children out of scrapes and difficult situations by telling them how to do it better. But giving advice often makes matters worse.

by Shepherd Hoodwin.

Once you are in a relationship, how can you develop intimacy? One key is honesty. Some people tell little lies about themselves when they first begin a relationship.

by Mario Kamenetzky.

I find satisfaction in the pursuit of love, and a life that gives full expression to the powers of my mind and my body, while keeping open, uncensored, and unmediated lines of communication with the spirit that dwells inside me. . . to work in partnership with the creator in further improving human love and life

by Matthew Fox.

Compassion is the world's richest energy source. Now that the world is a global village we need compassion more than ever -- not for altruism's sake, nor for philosophy's sake or theology's sake, but for survival's sake. And yet, in human history of late, compassion remains an energy source that goes largely unexplored, untapped, and unwanted. Compassion appears very far away and almost in exile.

by Phil Lane Jr.

by Lionel Fisher.

Our fear of aloneness is so ingrained that given the choice of being by ourselves or being with others we opt for safety in numbers, even at the expense of lingering in painful, boring, or totally unredeeming company. While many Americans have their solo lifestyles thrust on them -- people die, people go away -- a huge and growing population is choosing to be alone...

by Christina Baldwin.

As a spiritual practice, when we ask for what we need and offer each other what we can, we enter a dance of unavoidable reciprocity. As we ask for what we need and offer what we can we become spiritual traders of life's...